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so glorious that when he comes Jesus (pbuh) would consider
himself unworthy to kneel and undo the laces of his shoes.

The great “Crier” in the wilderness, in the course
of his sermons to the multitudes, used to cry aloud and
say, “I baptize you with water unto repentance and the
forgiveness on sins. But there is one that comes after me
who is stronger than I, the laces of whose shoes I am not
worthy to untie; he will baptize you with the Spirit and
with fire.” These words are differently reported by the
Evangelists, but all show the same sense of the highest
respect and consideration concerning the imposing
personality and the majestic dignity of the Powerful
Prophet herein foretold. These words of the Baptist are
very descriptive of the Oriental manner of hospitality and
honour accorded to a dignified visitor. The moment the
visitor steps in, either the host or one of the members of
the family rushes to take off his shoes, and escorts him
to a couch or cushion. When the guest leaves, the same
respectful performance is repeated; he is helped to put on
his shoes, the host on his knees tying the laces.

What John (“Yahya”) (pbuh) means to say is that if he were
to meet that dignified Prophet he would certainly consider
himself unworthy of the honour of bowing to untie the
laces of his shoes. From this homage paid beforehand by
the Baptist, one thing is certain: that the foretold Prophet
was known to all the John Prophets as their Adon, Lord,
and Sultan; otherwise, such an honourable person, chaste
and sinless Messenger of Allah as Seyidna Yahya, would
not have made such a humble confession.

Now remains the task of determining the identity of
“that Prophet.” This article, therefore, must be divided
into two parts, namely: