Prophecy About the Promised Messiah in Surah Al-Kahf — Essence of Islam Vol. 3
Introduction
In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 3), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon Prophecy About the Promised Messiah in Surah Al-Kahf, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 8: Dhulqarnain
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: The Meaning of Dajjal Circuiting the Ka‘bah | Next: Time of the Promised Messiah »
8 DHULQARNAIN I will now set out the meanings of the verses in Surah AlKahf which relate the story of Dhulqarnain, and the prophecy they contain about me, of which I have been informed by God Almighty. I do not deny the meaning of these verses which relates to the past, but what has been revealed to me is about the future.
وَيَسۡـَٔلُونَكَ عَن ذِي ٱلۡقَرۡنَيۡنِ ۖ قُلۡ سَأَتۡلُواْ عَلَيۡكُم مِّنۡهُ ذِكۡرًا
“And they ask thee about Dhu’l Qarnain. Say, ‘I will certainly recite to you something of his story.’” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:84)
‘They enquire from thee about Dhulqarnain. Tell them that for the moment I shall relate to only you a little about him.’ Then it says:
إِنَّا مَكَّنَّا لَهُۥ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَءَاتَيۡنَٰهُ مِن كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ سَبَبٗا
“We established him in the earth and gave him the means to accomplish everything.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:85)
‘We shall establish him on earth, i.e., the Promised Messiah, who will also be known as Dhulqarnain, in such a way that no one will be able to harm him; and We shall provide him with all the means for achieving his purpose and shall make everything easy and plain for him.’
Remember, the same revelation concerning me was published in the previous volumes of Brahin-e-Ahmadiyyah, in which God Almighty said: ‘Have We not facilitated everything for you?’ Have We not provided you with all the means for the communication and propagation of the truth? Of course, I have been provided with all the means for the propagation of the truth which were not even available at the time of any other prophet. Means of communication have opened between nations; travel has become so easy that a journey of years now takes only a few days; transmission of news is such that within minutes messages can be sent over thousands of miles; ancient texts of nations which were out of sight have begun to be published; means have become available for the delivery of everything where it is needed; difficulties in the publication of books have been removed with the introduction of the printing press, so much so that more copies of a book can be printed in ten days than was previously possible in ten years! A piece of writing can now be published throughout the world within forty days, whereas previously a man could not achieve this even in a hundred years.
Then Allah says in the Holy Qur’an:بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
“In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:211)
Dhulqarnain 297 ‘When Dhulqarnain (who is the Promised Messiah), is furnished with all the means, he will follow a certain path, (i.e., he will resolve to reform the people of the West). He will find that the sun of truth and righteousness has set in a muddy pool, near which he will find a people in the darkness. (These are the Christians of the West who will be steeped in darkness; they will have no sun to get light from, nor will they have clean water to drink, i.e., both in practice and doctrine they will be in a terrible state; they will be bereft of spiritual light and spiritual water.) Then We shall say to Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah): It is up to you either to punish them or to treat them with kindness. Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah) will say: We only desire the wrongdoers to be punished. They will be punished in this life (through our supplications), and will suffer severe torment in the hereafter. But he who does not deny the truth and does good deeds will have his reward. He will be required only to do what can be done with facility and ease.’
In short, these verses contain a prophecy that the Promised Messiah will appear at a time when the people of the West will be steeped in darkness. The sun of truth will completely disappear from their eyes and will set in a dirty, stinking pool, (i.e., instead of truth, they will be infested with foul beliefs and deeds). That will be the water they will drink. They will have no light whatsoever and will wallow in darkness. This exactly is the condition of the Christian faith today, as described by the Holy Qur’an, and the great centre of Christianity is also in the Western countries. Then God Almighty says:ثُمَّ أَتۡبَعَ سَبَبًا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَطۡلِعَ ٱلشَّمۡسِ وَجَدَهَا تَطۡلُعُ عَلَىٰ قَوۡمٖ لَّمۡ نَجۡعَل لَّهُم مِّن دُونِهَا سِتۡرٗا كَذَٰلِكَ ۖ وَقَدۡ أَحَطۡنَا بِمَا لَدَيۡهِ خُبۡرٗا
“Then indeed he followed another way Until, when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had made no shelter against it. Thus indeed it was. Verily, We encompassed with Our knowledge all that was with him.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:90-92)
That is, ‘Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah who will be equipped with every means) shall follow another path, (i.e., he will observe the state of the people of the East) and will discover a people at the place of the rising of the sun of truth who will be so ignorant that they will have no means of protecting themselves from the glare of the sun (i.e., they will be scorched by the heat generated by their adherence to the letter and their extremism), and they will be unaware of the truth. Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah) will have all the means of true peace and happiness of which We are aware, but the people will not accept them. They will have no shelter against the glare of their extremism—neither houses, nor shady trees nor suitable clothes to protect them from the heat. In this way the rising sun of truth will bring about their ruin.’
This is an instance of people who have the light of the sun of guidance available to them, and who are not like
those whose sun has set, but they derive no benefit from the sun of guidance; only their skins are scorched, their complexion is darkened and they lose their eyesight.
This division indicates that the Promised Messiah will encounter three kinds of people in the course of his mission. (1) First, he will encounter a people who have lost the sun of guidance and are wallowing in a muddy and dark pool. (2) His second encounter will be with a people who are sitting in the sun stark naked, i.e., they do not behave with respect, humility, courtesy and goodwill. They are worshippers of the letter, as if they want to fightDhulqarnain 299 the sun. Thus they too are deprived of the benefit of the sun, and all they get is their skins burnt. This refers to the Muslims among whom the Promised Messiah appeared, but they denied him and opposed him and did not behave with modesty and fairness, and consequently deprive themselves of good fortune. Then Allah Almighty further says:
۞وَتَرَى ٱلشَّمۡسَ إِذَا طَلَعَت تَّزَٰوَرُ عَن كَهۡفِهِمۡ ذَاتَ ٱلۡيَمِينِ وَإِذَا غَرَبَت تَّقۡرِضُهُمۡ ذَاتَ ٱلشِّمَالِ وَهُمۡ فِي فَجۡوَةٖ مِّنۡهُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مِنۡ ءَايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ مَن يَهۡدِ ٱللَّهُ فَهُوَ ٱلۡمُهۡتَدِ ۖ وَمَن يُضۡلِلۡ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ وَلِيّٗا مُّرۡشِدٗا
“And thou couldst see the sun, as it rose, move away from their Cave on the right, and when it set, turn away from them on the left; and they were in the spacious hollow thereof. This is among the Signs of Allah. He whom Allah guides is rightly guided; but he whom He adjudges astray, for him thou wilt find no helper or guide.” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:18)
Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah) will then follow another course and will find himself at a very critical time, which can be described as between two barriers or mountains. This means that he will find a time when people on either side will be in fear, and the powers of darkness, in collaboration with the powers of state, will present an awe-striking spectacle. Under both these powers he will find a people who will find it difficult to understand him, i.e., they will be the victims of false beliefs on account of which they will find it difficult to
understand the guidance which he will present to them. But in the end they will understand him. These are the third kind of people who will benefit from the guidance of the Promised Messiah. They will say to him: ‘Dhulqarnain, Gog and Magog have filled the land with disorder. If you so please, let us collect a fund for you so that you may erect a barrier between them and us.’ He will say in reply: ‘The power God has given me is better than your funds, but if you be so inclined, you can help me according to your means so that I may erect a wall between you and your opponents (i.e., he would put forth such conclusive proofs and arguments that their enemies will not be left with any ground for criticism or objection against their religion.) He will say to them: ‘Bring me slabs of iron so that their movement can be stopped, (i.e., hold fast to my teachings and my arguments, be steadfast, and block the enemy’s onslaught like a wall of iron.) Then blow fire into the iron until it appears to be fire itself (i.e., feed the flames of love for God until you yourselves assume the Divine complexion)…. After these verses, God Almighty goes on to say: Then Dhulqarnain (the Promised Messiah) will say to the people who are afraid of Gog and Magog: ‘Bring me copper so that I may melt it and pour it over the wall. Thereafter, Gog and Magog will not have the power to scale it or to make holes in it.’
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3]
Here it should be noted that though iron assumes the qualities of fire when left in it for a long time, it does not melt easily. Copper, on the other hand, melts very quickly; and it is necessary for a seeker to melt in the path of God. This means that the Promised Messiah will need such eager hearts and mild dispositions as would melt under the influence of Divine signs. These signs Dhulqarnain 301 have no effect on the hard-hearted. A person can only become immune to Satanic attacks when he becomes steadfast like iron and that iron becomes like fire when touched by the fire of Divine love, and then the melted heart should melt and cover the iron to secure it against disintegration and decay. These are the three conditions which, when combined, form a wall which cannot be scaled or bored through by the spirit of Satan. Then God says that all this will come about by His grace. It is His hands which will accomplish everything and human design will have no part in it. When the Day of Judgement approaches, mischief will reign supreme once again. This is the promise of God.
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 3, p. 295]
Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 3)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 8: Dhulqarnain
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: The Meaning of Dajjal Circuiting the Ka‘bah | Next: Time of the Promised Messiah »