The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 273
272 Α'ΙΝΑ-Ε-ΚΑMĀLĀT-E-ISLAM-DAFI UL-WASĀWIS not that they used to be there before but no longer exist. The frail and feeble mortal who is blind when he comes into this world is perpetually dependent upon being shown the existence of some of the Kingdom of Heaven and of witnessing some indications of the existence and power of God in whom he believes. The Signs manifested in an earlier age cannot suffice for a later age because receiving an account of some- thing is not the same as seeing it for oneself, and with the lapse of time, accounts of the past take on the form of stories. With every new century, there starts, as it were, a new world. Therefore, the God of Islam, who is the True God, manifests new Signs for every new world; and, at the head of every century-and especially in a century devoid of faith and sincerity and filled with darkness of diverse kinds-He raises a successor Prophet, in the mirror of whose nature the image of the Prophet[sas] is reflected. This successor Prophet manifests to the people, through his own person, the excellences of the Prophet [sas] whom he follows. He exposes the guilt of all his oppo- nents through truth, disclosure of the hidden verities, and the expo- sure of their falsehood. He does so through truth because the people did not believe in the true Prophetsas, and he proclaims the truth of the Prophetsas and points out the heavenly Signs of his truthfulness. He does so through the disclosure of hidden verities, for he resolves all the sealed points of the religion of the Prophetsas whom he obeys, thereby uprooting all doubts and objections. He does so through exposure of their falsehood, for he tears up the veils behind which the opponents live and shows the world how foolish those people are who have no understanding of the fine points of spiritual knowledge and have thrown themselves into neglect, ignorance, and darkness and are deprived and destitute of the audience with the Almighty. This man, having these excellences, is always clothed in the robe of Divine communion. He is virtuous and blessed; his prayers are accepted; he proves, with utmost clarity, that God exists and that He is Almighty, All-Seeing, All-Hearing, All-Knowing, and is the Executor of His will; that prayers are, in fact, accepted, and that miraculous Signs are shown