It is the message that proves the messenger, not the claim.
Hazrat Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Related Material by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan
Compiled by Wahiduddin Richard Shelquist – wahiduddin.net
The prophets bring Love, the Love of God, the Father and Mother of the whole humanity, a Love that is Life itself. No words nor actions can express that Love. The presence of the prophets, their very beings, speak of it, if only the heart had ears to listen. Verily, to the believer all is right, and to the unbeliever all is wrong.
The principal work of the prophets is to glorify the Name of God and to raise humanity from the denseness of the earth, to open the doors of the human heart to the Divine Beauty which is everywhere manifested and to illuminate souls which are groping in darkness for years. The prophets bring the message of the day, a reform for that particular period in which they are born. The claims of prophets are nothing to the real prophets. The being of the prophets, the work of the prophets, and the fulfillment of their tasks are themselves the proof of prophethood.
( from Religious Gatheka, Number 10: The Prophet )
There was a time when the world was not capable of seeing. Humanity did not have enough realization to recognize the Message, that is why the claim of prophecy had to be made. But now the world can recognize, sooner or later, what is right and what is wrong. The warners, the masters, the messengers of today will not claim. they will only work. They will leave their work to prove for itself whether it is true or false.
( from the Sufi Message Series, Volume VII – In an Eastern Rose Garden, Chapter 32: The Spiritual Hierarchy )
There was a time when the Message was given while the people were waiting for a Messenger to come, as happened in the time of Jesus Christ, when there were thousands and thousands waiting for a Messenger from above. The Master came, and gave his service to the world, and left again. Some realized what had happened then, and some are still waiting. But the One who claimed to be Alpha and Omega is never absent [ ie The Spirit of Guidance, which manifested through Jesus, and through all the other Saints, Prophets, and Masters — Muiz ]; sometimes It shows Itself, sometimes It keeps in the background. … The Divine Message is the answer to the cry of souls individually and collectively; the Divine Message is Life and it is Light. The sun does not teach anything, but in its light we learn to know all things. The sun does not cultivate the soil nor does it sow seed, but it helps the plants to grow, to flower, and to bear fruit.
Commentary by Murshid S.A.M. (Sufi Ahmed Murad)
Samuel L. Lewis
And this Message finds its historical proof not in any acceptance of personality, although this is often the case, but in the events of the world. For instance, the Prophet Zoroaster has not been accepted by so many people as the other great prophets, yet the part that he played in history was very great, and that which he gave can never die.