William Blake, in his poem in his preface to Milton, a Poem, commonly known as "Jerusalem" (not to be confused with the long poem Jerusalem The Emanation of the Giant Albion (1804-1820)), written 1804, which is about socialism, not religion, writes:
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?
(NB by the "Satanic Mills" he means the churches of the Established Church (Church of England), as correctly mentioned at the bottom of the paragraph on the expression in the Wikipedia page. The period of the industrial revolution involving mill towns with hundreds of chimneys had not even been imagined by 1804. This is one of the most widespread popular misinterpretations of a poetic expression of all time.)
Anyway, my question is: is there a term, in literary criticism or rhetoric, meaning "past for the future"? When he says "was Jerusalem builded here" he means "shall we manage to build Jerusalem (= a state where all people are free, particularly of tyranny, but also of "mind-forged manacles", etc.), in the future?"
I can think of another example, although with a different purpose: the Arabic phrase "Inshalla". This is actually an abbreviated form for the expression:
ان شاء الله
("in sha' Allah")
The Arabic verb here is actually in the past, and the phrase means "if God wished". But it is used by Arabic-speakers to mean "I hope [X happens...]".
In this case the reason for using "past for the future" is somewhat different: it refers to the notion that God is outside time: God knows what is going to happen, and "all is written". We may find out in a year's time whether God wished Leeds United to win the Premiership, etc.
My knowledge of Classical literature is not compendious, but I think it is likely that Latin or possibly Ancient Greek writers may well have used "past for the future" as a rhetorical device in the Blakean manner above. Some sacred writings from religions other than Islam may contain instances of the second type.