[162] Takmíl-ul-Imán, p. 47.
[163] Tafsír-i-Husainí, vol. i. p. 397.
[164] Tafsír-i-Faiz-ul-Karím, p. 25.
[165] Miskát-ul-Musábíh, book xxiii. ch. 12.
[166] "Although some Muhammadans, whose understandings are too refined to admit such gross conceptions, look on their Prophet's description as parabolical, and are willing to receive them in an allegorical or spiritual acceptation, yet the general and orthodox doctrine is, that the whole is to be strictly believed in the obvious and literal acceptance." Sale's Preliminary Discourse, Section iv. p. 73.
[167] This, the Lauh-ul-Mahfúz, is referred to in Súra lxxxv. 22, as that on which the Qurán is written. In Súra xxxvi. 11, the actions of men are said to be written in "the clear book of our decrees." This is called the Imám-ul-Mubín, the clear prototype.
[168] "The Prophet of God said that Adam and Moses (in the world of Spirits) maintained a debate before God, and Adam got the better of Moses, who said, "Thou art that Adam, whom God created and breathed into thee His own Spirit, and made the angels bow down before thee, and placed thee in Paradise; after which, thou threwest man upon the earth, from the fault which thou didst commit.' Adam replied, 'Thou art that Moses, whom God selected for His prophecy and to converse with, and He gave thee twelve tables, in which are explained everything, and he made thee His confidant and the bearer of His secrets; then how long was the Bible written before I was created?' Moses said, 'Forty years.' Then said Adam, 'Didst thou see in the Bible that Adam disobeyed God?' 'Yes.' 'Dost thou reproach me on a matter, which God wrote in the Bible forty years before creating me?'"
[169] Ibn Kah, commenting on the verse, "When thy Lord brought forth their descendants from the reins of the sons of Adam and took them to witness against themselves, 'Am I not,' said He, 'your Lord,' They said: 'yes, we witness it.'" (Súra vii. 171), goes on to say: "God formed all the prophets and saints into one class, and the martyrs into another. The pious men, also, were separated into one, and the wicked into another. One class was formed of the obedient servants, while the unbelievers, viz., the Jews, the Christians, the Majians, the Hindus, &c., were likewise divided into several parties; next, they were shaped into forms, that is, into the shape in which he was to appear in the world was predestined for each one." This passage is quoted with approval by the Wahhábí author of the Takwiyat-ul-Imán.
[170] The orthodox Commentator 'Abbás says: "This verse refers to the decree, e.g. 'He whom God wills to believe certainly will do so, and whom He wills to be an infidel will be one,' and not at all to man's free will." Tafsír-Hisainí, vol. ii. page 9.
[171] Mélanges de Philosophe Juive et Arabe par S. Munk. p. 458.