The Heavenly Sign — Page 22
22 Nishān-e-Asmānī 'Īsāas has indeed descended, and God's promise was bound to be fulfilled. I will lay out the prophecies that I had promised to do. Keeping to the chronological order, I think it will be appropriate to first relate the prophecy of Ni'matullāh Walī along with the prophecy of the Holy Prophetsa, and then the prophecy of Miāń Gulāb Shāh as it was related by Miāń Karīm Bakhsh. Ni'matullah Walī lived in the suburbs of Delhi and is famous as one of the renowned saints of India. With reference to his Dīwān, 560 Hijra is believed to be the time of his appearance. The date of the publication of the book which contains this prophecy is Muharram, 25, 1868. Thus, forty-one years have elapsed since these verses were published. These verses are included in the booklet Arba'in Fī Ahwālil Mahdiyyīn published on the date already mentioned. And, as I have already said, the object of including these verses in the booklet was to try and establish Sayyid Ahmad Şahib as one of the Mahdīs. Undoubtedly, people have greatly erred in understanding the Ahadith that mention the prophecy of the Holy Prophets about the coming of a person named Mahdi. In general, it has been erroneously assumed that the word 'Mahdi' invariably refers to 'Muhammad son of 'Abdullah' who has been mentioned in some Ahādīth. But a careful study reveals that the Holy Prophets has foretold the coming of several Mahdīs. One of them has been called