|
| |
entering into the immediate presence
of the Divine Majesty, attained to the most exalted
degree of God-likeness, so that God said unto him,
'I and thou,' and he unto God, 'Thou and I,' |
304-314 |
| 27. |
Persecuted and threatened with death
by their fellow-citizens in the town in which they
had grown up, they escaped from their hands as by
a miracle; and, together with their disciples, transferred
their domicile to another town, willing to receive
them, |
315-322 |
| 28. |
In this new domicile they developed
a great activity; and from it, as their headquarters,
they undertook expeditions, in order to carry out
their mission, and to secure for it a more extensive
recognition, |
322-324 |
| 29. |
They united their followers in the
closest ties of brotherhood, which caused a relaxation
in the stringent laws of possession and inheritance, |
324-326 |
| 30. |
They introduced a mode of worship
in which Jerusalem with its temple ceased to be
looked upon as the seat of the Divine Presence,
or the Kibla, that is, the quarter towards which
prayers had to be directed, |
326-328 |
| 31. |
They were called upon to decide what
punishment should be inflicted on adulterers, regard
being had to the punishment prescribed by the Law
of Moses, |
329-330 |
| 32. |
They publicly invited the Jews to
believe in their heavenly mission, and to embrace
the religion they preached, but met only with partial
success, |
330-331 |
| 33. |
Besides their efforts amongst the
Jews, they also commissioned ambassadors to distant
nations and their rulers, for the purpose of inducing
them to become disciples of the new Faith, |
332-333 |
| 34. |
They opened up to men the way of atonement
and pardon of sin, to find salvation, |
333-336 |
| 35. |
They had the mission of overcoming
the devil and destroying his works, |
336-339 |
| 36. |
As Jesus Christ, so also Mohammed,
was above all other men in worth and dignity, |
339-340 |
| 37. |
Each of them was the greatest and
best of all God's messengers, |
340-341 |
| 38. |
Each of them is the Holder of the
Keys, |
342 |
| 39. |
Their body is the true temple, that
is, the abode of the Divine Presence, or Shechina, |
342-343 |
| 40. |
They are both stamped with the Divine
Seal, |
343
|
| 41. |
Both of them have seen God, and heard
Him speak, |
343
|
| 42. |
They taught their people how to pray, |
344
|
| 43. |
Each of them sanctioned the drinking
of his blood, and ascribed to it a saving virtue,, |
345 |
| 44. |
Jesus speaks of stones which would
cry out under certain circumstances, but Mohammed
of stones and trees which actually did call out, |
345-346 |
| 45. |
Each of the two prophets illustrated
the hopelessness of a case by referring to a camel
passing through the eye of a needle, |
346 |
|
|
|
| 46. |
Both the prophets sometimes imparted
Divine benefits and blessings by the laying on of
their hands, |
347-348 |
| 47. |
By their mediation and benediction
a small quantity of food miraculously sufficed to
feed a large number of people, |
348-350 |
| 48. |
Towards the close of their earthly
course, both the prophets triumphantly re-enter
the capital city and national sanctuary, accompanied
by a vast multitude of exultant followers, though
previously they had to flee from it, their liberty
and even their life being threatened by the parties
in power; and they authoritatively rid the sanctuary
of what was desecrating it, |
350-355 |
| 49. |
Both Jesus and Mohammed continued
up to the close of their career, and with death
already at the door, in the zealous discharge of
their respective life-work, |
355-358 |
| 50. |
The death of both these prophets was
no less wonderful than their birth and life, |
358-374 |
| |
a. |
Their approaching death was foreknown
and foretold by them, |
358-359 |
| |
b. |
Their death was not unavoidable, but
freely accepted by them, |
359-361 |
| |
c. |
Angels would have been ready to prevent
their death, had they desired it, |
361 |
| |
d. |
They died a martyr's death, |
361-362 |
| |
e. |
As the sufferings in their death were
greater than other men's, so also is their reward, |
362-363 |
| |
f. |
Their sufferings and death are meritorious,
taking away sin and helping all their people into
paradise or heaven, |
363-364 |
| |
g. |
In their sufferings of death, Satan
had no power over them, |
364-365 |
| |
h. |
Their death-agonies were so extreme,
that in their distress they called out after God,
|
365 |
| |
i. |
The fact of their death was indubitably
established by the state of their body, |
365-366 |
| |
j. |
Their death was accompanied by extraordinary
phenomena, and its effects reached even to the invisible
world of spirits, |
366-368 |
| |
k. |
They were expected not to succumb
to the power of death, or to remain in its grasp,
|
368-369 |
| |
l. |
They received an honourable burial,
their friends preparing their body, wrapping it
in fine linen, and, with an ample use of costly
spices, depositing it in a new sepulchre, |
369-371
|
| |
m. |
Their sacred tomb had been the subject
of a previous Divine revelation, |
371-372 |
| |
n. |
Devoted friends visited their tomb,
and there received supernatural revelations, showing
that, even after death, they were still living,
|
372-374 |
|
|
