By Allah, after this there is nothing left but sheer obstinacy and a denial of the truth (1) once it has been made plain.

Thirty-Eighth Aspect: Ezekiel says in the scrolls that are in their hands that Allah—after listing the sins of the Children of Israel and likening them to a vine which He had nurtured—declared: “The vine was quickly uprooted in wrath, cast upon the ground, and the scorching winds burned its fruit; thereafter a shoot was planted (2) in the wilderness, in the parched and neglected land, and from its choice branches a fire issued that consumed that vine until no stout branch or rod remained in it.” (3)

This is an explicit, not merely implicit, reference to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and to his city, Mecca, that thirsty land which had been bereft of prophethood since the time of Ishmael.

Thirty-Ninth Aspect: In the scrolls of Daniel, after he had described the lying Chaldeans, it says: “Their summons shall not endure, nor will their offering be accepted; and the Lord has sworn by His arm that falsehood shall not prevail, and that no lying claimant will maintain a mission for more than thirty years.” (4) A similar statement appears in the Torah.

This is an unequivocal testimony to the soundness of the prophethood of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—(5), for those who followed him after his death were many times greater than those who followed him during his lifetime. His call has already spanned centuries and remains firmly established—and so it will remain until the end of time—and such a thing has never occurred