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The Task before Him

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C 35.—The revelation had come, the mission

And the inspiration. But what was it leading to?

It was a miracle, but not in the sense

Of a reversing of Nature; Muṣṭafā's vision

Was linked with Eternity, but he was no soothsayer

Foretelling passing events; the mysteries

Of knowledge were being opened out, but his message

Was no mere esoteric doctrine, to be grasped

By a few in contemplation, fleeing from action;

Nor was it the practice of single or social monasticism,

Undisturbed by the whims or passions of life.

He was asked to stand forth, to preach, to declare

The One Universal God, the Gracious, the Merciful,

And to lead men to the Right and forbid the Wrong.

C. 36.—The wrong?—The selfish pride of birth,

The massing of power and wealth in the hands

Of a few, the slaughter of female infants,

The orgies of gambling and drunkenness,

The frauds of temples and idols and priests,

The feuds and arrogance of tribes and races,

The separation of Sacred and Profane,

As if the unity of All Life and all Truth

Did not flow from the unity of God Most High.

C 37.—He was loyal to his family, but could he support

Their monopoly of power?—To his tribe,

But were the Quraish the only creatures

Of God?—To the temple of Mecca, but

Could he wink at Lāt and ’Uzzā, and the other monsters,

Whose worship killed the spiritual growth of Man?—

To the earlier Revelations, but could he hold

With the superstitious and falsehoods, the dogmas and creeds

Which went against reason and nature, and the inner light

Which was now fanned into flame by the Will of God?

C. 38.—And so his very virtues and loyalties pointed

To offence and conflict, mockery and misrepresentation,

Hatred and persecution, threats, tortures, and exile

For him and his, and martyrdoms, wars, revolutions,

And the shaking of the foundations of history

And the social order. But Islam meant

The willing submission of his will to God,

The active attainment of Peace through Conflict.

C. 39.—And he gave that submission, not without effort,

Even as Moses did before him,

And Jesus in the agony of the garden of Gethsemane.

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The Holy Qur-an: Text, Translation and Commentary

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