He was the erudite scholar, the leading imam, into whose very palms the reins of knowledge were placed;

the holder of the loftiest station, for whose sake banners were unfurled across every land.

An ocean of learning, the treasure-house of every virtue, peerless in all ages, an imam for his time.

A master-scholar whom God chose for His religion, the final seal and consummation of the leaders of guidance.

He carried out the rulings of the Book, and how often did he (1) rise up to champion the monotheism of God!

He revived the radiant Sunnah after it had lain lifeless, so that reverence and protection (2) once again surrounded it,

and he extinguished entrenched customs of deviant innovation that not even a keen sword could have banished.

A son (3) of every virtue and branch of knowledge, whose diverse disciplines the imagination itself cannot compass.

The Lord of the exalted heavens granted him in learning a precedence no aspiration could attain.

⦗152⦘ His penetrating authority in knowledge is the very word of Muhammad—may the All-Knowing Creator bless him.

Surely our transcendent Lord, exalted be He, decrees whatever the rulings bring about;

and in every coming century He discloses to you someone by whom (4) entire nations are guided to the faith.

So if he appeared eight centuries later, (5) he had already preceded them all as an imam in the sciences.