to her as a well-formed human being” [Maryam 19:17].
Do you suppose it was other than Gabriel? No, by God, it was only Gabriel. He saw the two only within this world, in her abode and life. He said in praise, “God’s is the dominion of the heavens and earth” [Al ʿImran 3:189], both belonging to the worldly abode.
We have established that everything in the Hereafter exists in this world. Some we know and some we do not. This world has something additional not present in the Hereafter, so this world is more complete in constitution. Were it not for imposed obligations and the failure to attain all aims, the Hereafter could not equal her.
(Distinction and Intermixture in This World)
If you ask, “Through what addition does this world exceed the Hereafter?” we say: the Hereafter is an abode of distinction, while this world is an abode of distinction and intermixture. The people of the Fire are distinguished, and the people of the Garden are distinguished: the people of the Garden are in the Garden and the people of the Fire in the Fire. “They recognize everyone through their marks” [al-Aʿraf 7:46].
The worldly abode contains the Hereafter’s distinction, but it is not universal. In this world, through God’s informing us, we know that the messengers and prophets and those the messengers identify through glad tidings are felicitous. God says, “Theirs are glad tidings in worldly life and the Hereafter” [Yunus 10:64]. This is this world’s comprehensiveness.
No one among the felicitous passes to the Hereafter without receiving glad tidings in this world, even for a single breath, so the aim is attained. Those whom the messengers identify through tidings as wretched are distinguished through wretchedness. He, glory be to Him, says, “Give them tidings of a painful punishment” [Al ʿImran 3:21].
He was silent concerning most people,
