Now, O my beloved! as to what the Most High God, to whom be praise, has willed in His Eternity and in His decrees to grant to His servant, the humble and lowly, in (bestowing on him) the great Khalifate:—
The eminent Lord (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace, several times informed me that I am the Mahdi, the Expected One, and (appointed) me (as) successor[349] to himself, on whom be blessing and peace, to sit on his throne, and (as successors) to their Excellencies the four Khalifs and Princes[350] (of the Faith), and to El Khudr,[351] on whom be peace: And God gave as my helpers, the angels (who are), the Cherubim, and the saints from Adam to this our day, and also the believing Jinns;[352] and in the hour of battle the eminent Lord, the Bountiful One, on Whom be blessing and peace, will in person go with them before my hosts, as also the four Khalifs and the Princes (of the faith), and El Khudr, on whom be peace.
And He gave me the sword of victory of his Excellency (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace; and it was made known to me that none of either race, human or Jinn, can conquer him who has it.
Then said he, on whom be blessing and peace, “God has given to thee a sign that thou art the Mahdi”; which (sign) is the mole on my right cheek; and he likewise gave to me another sign (namely, that) there should go forth before me in the hour of battle a banner of light, borne by Azraïl,[353] on whom be peace, that by it God should convince my friends, and terror should fall upon the hearts of my enemies, and (that) God will destroy whoever should encounter me in hostility.
Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said to me: “Thou art created out of the effulgence of my innermost heart,” and he to whom happiness (is granted) will believe I am the Mahdi, the Expected One. But God has put hypocrisy (wickedness) into the heart of those who love vain pomp, and they will not believe, being greedy of their vain pomps.
Then he, on whom be blessing and peace, said: Love of wealth and pomps cause hypocrisy to spring up in the heart as water causes the herb to spring up; and it is found in the Athar (traditional sayings about Mahomed): If you see worldlings loving this world, charge them with it. And it is found in some of the ancient books (saying): Do not ask of me a world intoxicated with love of earthly things, for it will close against thee the way of my love. And these (are they who like brigands) stop the way of (true) service (of God).
And when there came to me, O my beloved, from God and His prophet the decree of the great Khalifate, He ordered me (to take my) Hegira[354] (flight) to Jebel Kadeer close by Masāt, and He commanded me to write thence to all entrusted with public offices. I wrote thus to the Emirs and Sheikhs of religion, and the wicked denied (my mission), but the righteous believed; even those who do not mind any hardship they may encounter for God, nor what they fail to attain of their dearest wishes; but steadfastly regard the promises of the most High God, to Whom be praise, in which He said that He will reserve that other world for those who do not desire exaltation in this world, nor (its) corruptions. Now since it is for God to decree, and since He has willed to bestow the office of Mahdi upon His humble and insignificant servant Mahomed the Mahdi, the son of the Seyyed Abdallah, it behoves us to submit to the will of God; and, seeing that it is unanimously agreed by the present and past generations to attribute supreme knowledge to God, and as His knowledge, to Whom be praise, is not limited by control of rules nor by the knowledge of the malevolent, and since God will blot out (abrogate) or establish what He wills, and since He is the source of the Book (the Koran), of which none can understand anything save what He wills, and since with Him is the key of the unknown (future),—none knows it but He, nor is He to be questioned as to what He does,—He creates what He will,—He chooses and bestows His mercy on whom He will. Sheikh Mohi ed Deen Ibn el Arabi especially says in his commentary on the glorious Koran that knowledge of the Mahdi is like knowledge of the hour (of resurrection), and that hour none knoweth but God most High. And Sheikh Ahmed Ibn Edrees said, Fourteen generations of the generations of the people of God have denied the (coming of the) Mahdi. Then he said: He will come forth from a place that they do not know and in a condition which they will disown.
It is not hidden from your knowledge that the writings about the (coming of the) Mahdi are among others the Athar and the Keshef el Ulema and others; and the conclusion of them all (is), and I understand from them, that God will blot out (abrogate) what passages He will, and some of these are the Hadiths (traditional sayings), and among them Ed Dha’eef and El Maktooa’ and El Mansookh and El Mowdhooa’. The Hadith Ed Dha’eef is superseded by the Hadith El Saheehh word for word. The Ayat also are replaced by other Ayat.[355] And the truth as to this is not known save to people of deep thought and insight.
Further, this is what the eminent Lord (Mahomed), on whom be blessing and peace, said to me, “He who doubts that thou art the Mahdi has blasphemed God and His prophet.” This he, blessing and peace be upon him, declared to me thrice.
All that I have told you about my succession to the office of Mahdi was told to me by the eminent Lord (Mohammed), on whom be blessing and peace, when I was awake and in perfect health, free from all transgressions of the law, not in sleep nor in (a state of) hallucination, or drunkenness or madness, but accounted to be of sound mind, following the traditions of the prophet, on whom be blessing and peace, in ordering what he ordered and forbidding what he forbade.