A Verdict Required — Page 60
60 A VERDICT REQUIRED يُعِيسَى إِنِّي مُتَوَفِّيْكَ وَرَافِعُكَ إِلَى وَجَاعِلُ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوْكَ فَوْقَ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيمَةِ. ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَ ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ. Translation: Meaning that, O 'Isā, I will cause you to die a natural death and will raise you towards Me; I will grant predominance to your followers over those who disbelieve, until the Day of Judgment. And one group of the follow- ers shall be the earlier ones and one group will be of the later ones. This comforting message from God descended upon Hadrat Īsā [Jesus] at a time when he was in great distress, and he had been threatened with a death that is particularly reserved for criminals; namely, the threat of crucifixion which is an accursed death. This very revelation and this very promise was given to this humble one, from which it was understood that this humble one would face the same trial and meet the same end. This humble one was named 'Īsā [Jesus] on this very basis, and it was promised that, 'I will cause you to die a natural death and will raise you with honour. ' In short, this revelation contains a concealed prophecy that, like Hadrat Īsā, the enemies of this humble one would also con- spire to kill me and would implement plans to inflict the death of a criminal; that is, execution by hanging. However, they would fail in the accomplishment of these intentions. In short, by apply- ing the name of 'Īsā [Jesus] to this humble one, it alluded to the reason that just as plans and plots were made for Hadrat 'Isā to die this death-which is typical of the deaths of criminals—the same would occur here as well. Then, in subsequent revelations that follow, clear indications