The Life of the Prophet

The life of the prophet is like that of someone walking upon a rope: matter on one side and spirit on the other; heaven on one side and earth on the other; the imperfect self journeying towards perfection and at the same time bearing the burden of numberless souls, many of whom have not yet learned to walk even upon the earth. In the history of the prophets, at whatever time they have come on earth, one reads of their struggle being fourfold: struggle with self, struggle with the world, struggle with friends, and struggle with foes; and yet many wonder why a prophet should be a warrior! Most people know that the Prophet Muhammad was a warrior, but are unaware of the fact that Moses had the same experience; and very few know that the whole lives of the prophets of India, Rama and Krishna, were nothing but warfare from beginning to end. Their scriptures are full of the wars and battles that went on all through their lives, and if some prophets apparently did not have to wage war, then they had some other form of warfare to go through. The blood of the martyrs was the foundation of the Church.
-- Hazrat Inayat Khan