Letters ( revised ) | THE NINETEENTH LETTER | 215
(111-259)

Also,  flies  did  not bother  him; they never  alighted  on his clothes  or  blessed body[392]     just as  one of  his progeny,  Sayyid  ‘Abd  al-Qadir  Gilani,  received  this legacy from his forefather, for flies never alighted on him either.[393]

The Tenth: After God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) was born, and especially on the night of his birth, there was a great increase in falling stars.[394]  As shown with decisive proofs in the Fifteenth Word, falling stars are a sign of jinns  and  devils  being barred  from receiving  news of the  Unseen.  Thus,  since God’s Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) had appeared in the world together with revelation, it was necessary to prevent the knowledge about the Unseen being transmitted by soothsayers, diviners, and jinn, which was inaccurate and mixed with lies, so that their knowledge should not cause any doubts about revelation, and should not resemble it. Before the prophetic mission, soothsaying  was widespread. Then with its revelation, the Qur’an brought it to an end. Indeed, many soothsayers accepted Islam, for they could no longer find their informers, who were jinns. That is, the  Qur’an  had  put  an end  to  it.  And  these  days  a new  type of  soothsaying  has appeared in the form of mediums among the spiritualists of the West. But we shall not go into that now.

I n  S h o r t : Very many events occurred and persons appeared confirming and causing others to confirm the prophethood of the Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) before the commencement  of his mission. For sure, before the appearance of the one who was going to be the ruler of the world[395] and would change the world’s spiritual shape, and would make this world into the tillage for the next, and proclaim the high value of the creatures of the world, and show to man and jinn the way to eternal happiness and save them from everlasting extinction, and solve the obscure talisman of the world  and riddle of the wisdom in its creation,  and would know and make known the purposes of the universe’s Creator, and recognize the Creator and acquaint Him  to  all men –  before  such  a one appeared,  surely everything,  all species  and realms of beings would be happy at his coming, would await him and welcome and applaud him, and if his coming was made known to them by their Creator, they in turn would announce it. Indeed, we saw in the above Signs and examples how each realm of creature displayed his miracles as if  welcoming him, and confirmed his prophethood through the tongue of miracles.

 

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[392] Qadi Iyad, al-Shifa’, i, 368; al-Khafaji, Sharh al-Shifa’, iii, 319; ‘Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 753; Sha’rani, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, i, 109.

[393] Nabhani, Jami’ Karamat al-Awliya’, ii, 203.

[394] al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, viii, 220; Bayhaqi, Dala’il al-Nubuwwa, i, 111; Qadi Iyad, al- Shifa’, i, 366; Halabi, al-Sirat al-Halabiya, i, 207-8.

[395] Yes, the Sultan of Lawlak* was such a leader that his rule has been continuing for one thousand three hundred and fifty years. Every century after the first, he has had at least 350 million followers and subjects. With half the globe under his banner, every day his followers renew their allegiance to him in perfect submission by calling down on him peace and blessings, and obey his commands.

•’Ali al-Qari, Sharh al-Shifa’, i, 6. [See also, fn. 298].

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