Signs of the Living God — Page 45
45 Thus when divine revelation had revealed that though the disaster would not happen in the lifetime of the Promised Messiah as , it would still occur within the stipulated time period, it was made clear that while the Promised Messiah as would not see it, it would still take place within 16 years. And this is exactly what happened. Ten years after the prophecy was made, it was fulfilled in the eleventh year. It could be argued the fact that after receiving the revelations about an earthquake, the Promised Messiah as left his home and lived for some time in a tent shows he understood the word zalzala to mean an earthquake in a literal sense. However, such a contention would not be justified. Taking a precautionary measure in light of the presence of the word zalzala does not diminish the grandeur of the prophecy. It is often the practice of prophets to try and fulfil a prophecy in its literal sense and in the life of the Holy Prophet sa , the incident of Hudaibiya is an example of this. Also with regards to these revelations, it ought to be kept in mind the Promised Messiah as received numerous revelations about earthquakes; some of these revelations hinted at being fulfilled in his lifetime while others seemed to pertain to his homeland or to the rest