Page 142 - Portents and Features of the Mahdi's Comingl

PORTENTS AND FEATURES OF THE MAHDI'S COMING

His com pas sion for the poor is one of the signs of the
Mahdi.
(Fera Idu Fevaidi'l Fiqr,)
He has great com pas sion for the wronged.

(Nu'aym ibn Hammad, vr. 50b; Al-Uqayli, An-Najmu al-
Saqib, )

In list ing the Mahdi's char ac ter is tics, the great
Islamic schol ar Ibn al-Arabi refers to his supe ri or com -
pas sion ate thus:
1 He has fore sight,
2 He under stands the Book,
3 He knows the mean ing of vers es,
4 He knows that state and actions of those he will
assign,
5 He will still be com pas sion ate and just even when
angered,
6 He knows the class es of beings,
7 He knows the intri cate aspects of affairs,
8 He has a sound under stand ing of peo ple's needs,
and
9 The man i fes ta tion of secret things in his time,
because only then will he be able to resolve any prob -
lems that may arise.
(Signs of the Judgment Day, p. 189)

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