The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 185
The Messiah and his Second Coming 185 and desired to fulfil itself through him. In this sense his being became the being of Jesus and the passionate inten- tions of Jesus descended upon it, a descent that was metaphorically described as the descent of Jesus. It is a spiritual mystery that sometimes so firm a spiritual rela- tionship is established between the holy ones who have passed away and those who are living, through the reflec- tion of their attention and the unity of their thinking, that those in heaven regard those on earth as their spiritual substitutes. The designs generated in their hearts in heaven are correspondingly generated by God's com- mand in the hearts of their reflections on earth. A soul which is thus united with one on earth is bestowed the capacity to communicate its designs fully to that soul. This transfer takes place under Divine direction. This is the Divine way in which Prophets and the holy ones who have passed away descend upon the earth. It was thus that Prophet Elijah descended in the form of John the Baptist. This is also the true meaning of the descent of Jesus, which has been revealed to me. If anyone should still persist in denial I would be ready to enter into a Mubāhalah [Prayer duel] with him. [A'īna-e-Kamālāt-e-Islām, Rūķānī Khazā'in, vol. 5, pp. 254-256] Correct Meanings of Nuzūl It is asked: how can we reject the clear and obvious statements of the Ahādīth which expressly state that Je- sus, son of Mary, would descend from heaven near the eastern minaret of Damascus with his hands on the shoulder of two angels? The answer is that descent in this context does not mean descent from heaven in a physical body. The Ahḥādīth do not even employ the word 'heaven'. The Arabic word Nuzūl [descent] is commonly used to connote arrival. A person who arrives at one