The Reality of Khilafah — Page 91
Chapter Two—About the Mahdi 91 in two respects. The first is that the father of our Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was ready to receive the light of faith but left this world before he was able to do so. As such, the light of our Prophet s as was imbued in his nature but it did not appear in his actual experience, and only Allah knows the reality of his true nature since he departed in obscurity. In this respect, the father of the Mahdi resembles the father of the beloved Prophet s as. Ponder over these matters like a rational per- son and do not turn away in haste. In my opinion, some of the Imams of the household of the Holy Prophet s as received a revelation from Allah that Imam Muhammad was concealed in a cave and that he would come out of it at the end of time to kill the infidels and to uphold the reli- gion of the Holy Prophet s as. This concept is very similar to the one regarding the ascension of Jesus to heaven and his descent at a time of great turmoil. The key that reveals the truth behind these phenomena is that these and other similar words are revealed to people in the form of metaphors and that they are full of subtle indications. In this context, the tomb that becomes the home of the righteous after their passing way is termed as a ‘cave’ and the advent of someone who is like the Imam in his nature and dispo- sition is portrayed as the Imam emerging from the cave. All these expressions are metaphors that abound in the Word of God, and this is not unknown to the knowledgeable. Do you not know how Allah admonished the Israelites at the time of the Seal of the Prophets and said to them in categorical terms: