because Muhammad, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, is the master of humanity on the Day of Resurrection, and he and his community are the last who are the first. Among messengers we have therefore considered Muhammad, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, and among communities his community.
(The Poles before and after the Mission)
Know that the Muhammadan Poles are of two kinds: Poles after his mission and Poles before his mission. The Poles before his mission are the messengers, numbering three hundred and thirteen messengers.
The Poles of his community after his mission until the Day of Resurrection number twelve. The two Seals are outside these Poles, belonging to the Solitaries. The Seal will be mentioned at the end of the book, and after this chapter the twelve Poles will be discussed fully, God Most High willing.
(The Limit of Discourse concerning the Messengers’ Stations)
As for the Abodes of the Muhammadan Poles who are the messengers, God’s blessings be upon them all, we have no way to speak of their Abodes. Our discourse arises from tasting, and we possess no tasting of the messengers’ stations, peace be upon them.
Our tastings concern inheritance alone[1]. None speaks concerning messengers but a messenger; concerning prophets, but a prophet or messenger; or concerning heirs, but a messenger, prophet, friend of God, or one of the heirs. This is divine courtesy.
The messengers’ ranks are therefore known only from the universal Seal through whom God seals universal sainthood at the end of time, who is Jesus
Notlar
[1]
(The author restricts his discourse to what he describes as the tasting of inheritance. Here he refrains from speaking of the messengers’ stations without tasting them.)
