The Light of Truth — Page 241
REFUTING OBJECTIONS But to compare him to the Greatest of Messengers and Best of the Prophets [Muhammadsas] is a flawed analogy and far removed from modesty. Indeed our Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said to Umar : مَا لَقِيَكَ الشَّيْطَانُ فِي فَجٌ 1 إِلَّا سَلَكَ فَجَّا غَيْرَ فَجِّكَ ]When Satan sees you on a particular path, he takes a path different from yours. ] This point proves that Satan ran from Umar like a cow- ardly and lowly one, whereas in the Gospel, Jesus declares the best of his companions to be a devil. Fear the Lord of Majesty and look at the difference between the two, and do not has- ten towards the ways of the devils. What's more, when all the power belongs to Satan, what becomes of your weak 'god'? He did not have the power to repel the Wolf, but rather, followed him like one who is subjugated or like a needy one in anguish; whom Satan drew into a bizarre ruse and invited to a strange peril. It is remarkable that despite his claim to divinity and the glory of his sonship, Jesus followed him with good intentions and did not understand that he was a cunning imposter whose promise was [empty] like lightning that is not followed by rain, and that he was the chief of the deceivers. You are well aware that the Jews would say to the Messiah: 'You have not shown Signs from the Gracious God, but rather from Satan-and an evil spirit accompanies you. ' Then, if this were true-i. e. let us suppose that all powers belong to Satan the Despised-then that which is recorded in great detail in the Gospel, namely, that Jesus went to Galilee under the power of ar-Ruh الروح - the Holy Spirit], would be incorrect; indeed, it would be a clear lie and alteration of the abrogators, and the 241 1. See Ibn Arabi's al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, vol. 1, ch. 30: Bāb fi ma'rifat at-tab- aqah al-ūlā wath-thāniah min al-aqtāb ar-rukban (Beirut: Dar Ihya'ul-Turāth al-Arabi Publishing & Distributing, 1998), 261. [Publisher]