The Light of Truth — Page 239
REFUTING OBJECTIONS 239 As for his interpretation that شَدِيدُ الْقُوى ]Shadidul-quwa] refers to Satan; and his notion that all power rests with that wolf rather than with the Gracious God and His angels; and that for this reason he is called by this name in the Holy Quran, well, I do not understand the mystery behind such statements, nor do I find even a whiff of proof in them. Perhaps he has read something like this in the Gospel, or he came to this conclusion after reading the [biblical] story of when Satan came to Jesus in the form of an elephant: Satan, using his mighty powers, led Jesus to some mountains in Galilee and put him to trial through deceptive machinations. Jesus was not able to resist following Satan or going towards his mountain; nor was he able to grab hold of his head and extinguish the flames of Satan through his own power. On the contrary, Jesus walked behind him like the weak and feeble. If his interpretation is rooted in this delusional rationale, as I presume it may be, then I will not deny this incident of the Messiah and shall believe in it as though it were a genuine thing. I also affirm that the Satan [sent] to a Messiah of this sort was indeed [the personification of[ شَدِيدُ الْقُوى ]shadidul-quwa— mighty powers]. This is why he was able to lead Jesus to a tall mountain and say, 'Prostrate before me and I shall give you a great kingdom and a never-ending wealth;' and was able to tempt the belief of a weak stranger; and pounce upon him like a raven- ous wolf; and parted with the Messiah not forever, but only for a certain period of time. And the word حِيْن ]hina specific time] is certainly present in the Gospel of Luke, so let anyone who doubts see for themselves. ¹ There is no doubt that when, after a time, Satan returned [to Jesus] for a second meeting, he taught him the doctrine of Trinity, and brought the people who were on the brink of ruin to their destruction, for this second meeting was among the promises of Satan the Accursed. 1. See Luke 4:13, where it is said: 'And when the devil had ended all the tempta- tion, he departed from him for a season. [Publisher]