Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part V — Page 485
LAYING TO REST SOME DOUBTS 485 breathing of the Spirit was a kind of metaphor similar to Mary, the Truthful's conception. And then after this 'conception, at the end of the book I was named ‘Īsā, as He said: يا عيسى اني متوفيك ورافعك الى Meaning: 'O 'Isā, I will cause you to die and will raise you to Myself like believers. Thus, I was named 'Īsā ibn Maryam [Jesus son of Mary] in the Book of God. Since Maryam is an ummati individual and 'Īsā is a Nabī, therefore, by giving me the names Maryam and 'Īsā it was shown that I am both an ummatī and a Nabi-but a Nabi who is a Nabi only by way of reflection in the estimation of God due to the blessing of obedience [to the Holy Prophetsas]. My being 'Isā ibn Maryam is a matter that the ignorant people object to; namely: 'According to ahādīth the 'Isā who was to come has been named 'Isā ibn Maryam, whereas this man is not Ibn Maryam as his mother's name was not Maryam. Little do they realize that, as was the promise contained in Sūrah at-Tahrim, I was first named Maryam, and then God's grace breathed the Spirit into me; i. e. by His special manifestation created a new state from that Maryam-like state and named it Īsā. And since that state emanated from a Maryam-like state, God called me by the name of 'Isā ibn Maryam, and this is how I became 'Īsā ibn Maryam. Hence, the Maryam referred to here is not Maryam, the mother of Hadrat 'Isā, may peace be upon him; rather, God named me Maryam in the previous Parts of Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya on account of a spiritual resemblance that I had with Maryam, mother of 'Isā. And then He brought upon me another manifestation and compared it to the breathing of the Spirit. And then when that Spirit became manifest and reflected, He named me ‘Īsā by virtue of that Spirit. So, it is on this very account that I was named 'Isā bin Maryam. Here, this point also needs to be understood that whereas the Quranic verse: