The Descent of the Messiah — Page 258
THE DESCENT OF THE MESSIAH 73 [continued] The claim of some Sikhs that the Cloak was snatched by Baba Nanak from a Qazi is truly absurd. Do the Sikhs not know that the Qazis never possessed Cloaks? At that time in Islam, it was customary only among mendicants to keep such Cloaks. On the other hand, it is quite true that the Cloak was given to Baba Nanak by his Muslim spiritual mentor. It is also possible, as is written in the Janamsakhis, that he had this robe prepared after receiv- ing revelation from God. It was thus a miracle and was as if it had come down from heaven, for Baba Nanak was a pious man who had courageously cut himself off from the Hindus, had married a daughter of Hayat Khan of Afghanistan, and had also performed solitary retreats at the shrines of saints in Multan and other places. The declaration by Baba Nanak in my dream that he was a Muslim meant that a time would come when his Muslim faith would become apparent to everyone. It was for this purpose that I wrote Satt Bachan. My saying to the Hin- du, "The water of this fountain is not clear, drink from my fountain," meant that a time would come when the truth of Islam would become manifest to the Hindus and the Sikhs, and that the fountain of Baba, which the Sikhs had unwisely muddied, would be purified through me. Also, Baba Sahib's courageous estrangement from the Hindus would once again be established. Had the Sikhs reflected on just this one sentence written on the chola, "There is no salvation other than in Islam," they would have acquired the same holy traits as Baba Sahib long ago. The fact is that Bawa Nanak was a man from among the Sikhs whom they failed to recognise. While most people find the truth about Islam through books, Baba Nanak learned it through divine revelation. It is a shame that the followers of the man who was so pure-hearted, such a champion of Islam, and who endured such suf- fering for testifying in favour of Islam, have become so distant and cut off from Islam. 258