The Heavenly Sign — Page 23
The Heavenly Sign 23 Sultan-e-Mashriqas 22 in Hadith; he has to appear in an eastern country, like India; while the country of his origin must be Fāras (Persia). In fact, it is he concerning whom is written in a Hadith that even if faith ascended to the Pleiades, he would bring it back even from there. Yet another sign concerning him is that he will be a farmer. In short, it is a definite and proven fact that several Mahdīs are mentioned in the Șihāh Sittah, 23 and one of them will appear in the Eastern countries. But some people have been confused by the amalgamation of these Ahādīth. However, the point which deserves most attention is that the time of advent of one Mahdias, as foretold by the Holy Prophets is the same in which we live, and he has called him the Mujaddid of the 14th century (Hijra) as, God willing, I shall later elaborate. Anyway, though it is definitely clear that a great Mujaddid will appear in India at the beginning of the 14th century [Hijra], it is quite arbitrary to declare that this prediction applies to Sayyid Ahmad Şahib, because, as I have already pointed out, Sayyid Şahib did not even live to see the 14th century (Hijra). Now I will present some verses of Ni'matullāh Walī about the Mahdias of India with comments. 22 The Emperor of the East. [Translator] 23 The six most authentic books of Hadith. [Translator]