The Light of Truth — Page 359
REFUTING OBJECTIONS 359 uncovers the hidden truth. Rather, seek out the truth and learn the way with pure intentions. Do not toy with religious matters as though you were children. Is there any harm for you in accepting that which has become manifest like plain truths, and rejecting the ways of falsehoods and dishonesty? Truly, I am a trustworthy coun- sellor and my Lord, the Knower of all things hidden, who recognizes the truthful and the liars, watches over me. I am content to make manifest the true guidance, And be labelled as Dajjal unjustly by the enemies. As regards the correct interpretation and true and clear meaning, the intended purport of a lunar eclipse on the first night of Ramadan' is that the moon will be eclipsed on the first of three nights when the light of the moon is fullest and which are known as Ayyāmul-Bid [i. e. the days of white nights],¹ and there is no need for further expla- nation. Moreover, there is an indication that when the lunar eclipse takes place on the first night with full moonlight, it shall take place at the earliest possible moment and not after the passage of time,2* as is clear to one who is intelligent and possesses knowledge. This, indeed, is how the lunar eclipse occurred and multitudes of this country's inhabitants bore witness to it. As for what you 1. Per Lane, the Arabic expression Ayyāmul-Bid (and the variant, Ayyāmul- Layālil-Bid), meaning, 'the days of the white nights', is applied for 'the days of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth nights of the month, so called because they are lighted by the moon throughout. [Publisher] 2. In certain traditions, people of little understanding have related that the solar eclipse will occur on the first night of Ramadan. But it is clear that this is an obviously false matter. I am astonished by these narrators: did they not perceive self-evident truths; Did they not know that the solar eclipse does not occur at night, but rather, during the day! For when the sun rises, where is the night, O people of insight! -Author