Page 123 - New English Book L

122

It is mala fides and ill will to accuse prophets of
sensuality, rudeness, ignorance in sciences, and of other
personal frailties. They were men like us and subject to
the same natural inclinations and passions. They were
protected only from mortal sins and from the perversion
of the message, they had to hand further. We must be
extremely careful not to exalt the prophets of God too high
in our imagination, lest God be displeased with us. They
are all His creatures and servants; they accomplished their
work and returned to Him. The moment we forget God and
concentrate our love and admiration upon the person of
any of the messengers of God, we are in danger of falling
into the sin of polytheism.

Having so far explained the nature and the signification
of the prophet and the prophecy, I shall now endeavour
to prove that no prophet could be genuine unless, as
Jeremiah expressly says, he preaches and propagates the
religion of Islam.

In order to understand better the sense and the
importance of the passage under our contemplation we
should just cast a glance over the preceding verse where
Jeremiah tells his antagonist Prophet Hananiah: “The
prophets that have been before me and before thee from
old (times) prophesied against many lands, and against
great kingdoms, concerning war and evil and pestilence.”
Then he proceeds:-

“The prophet that prophesies concerning Islam as
soon as the word of the prophet comes, that prophet is
known to have been sent by the Lord in truth.”

There can be raised no serious objection to the English
wording of this passage excepting the clause “l shalom”
which I have translated as “concerning Islam.” The
preposition “l” before “shalom” signifies “concerning” or
“about,” and places its subject in the objective case and not
in the dative, as it would be if the predicate were a verb like
“come,” “go,” or “give.”