THE SEVENTH

“And their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, [filling] the sowers with  wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the unbelievers with rage at them.” These phrases give news of the Unseen in two respects:

T h e  F i r s t  is the prediction in the Gospel about the Companions, which for

the unlettered Prophet (UWBP) belonged to the World of the Unseen.

Yes, the Gospels contain such verses as, “With him is a staff of iron, and his community is like him”8  describing the Prophet who was to come at the end of time. That is, a Prophet would come who unlike Jesus (UWP) would wield the sword and be charged with waging jihad, as would his Companions. The one bearing “the staff of iron” would be the World’s Ruler. For in another place in the Gospels it says: “I am going so that the Ruler of  the World may come.”9   That is to say, the World’s Ruler will come. It is thus understood from these two verses in the Gospels that at the outset the Companions would be few and weak, nevertheless they would sprout like seeds, grow, thicken, and find strength. Then  when  about to be overwhelmed and

smothered by the rage this caused the unbelievers, they would subjugate mankind with their swords and prove that the Messenger (UWBP), their leader, was the Ruler of the World. These verses express exactly the meaning of the above verses of Sura al-Fath.