Then, when Allah sent Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with the guidance than which He has placed nothing on earth, nor will ever place, more exalted or of greater worth, his people accepted it only after his strenuous striving with them and his tireless effort to wean them from the customs of the Age of Ignorance and the darkness of unbelief that had turned their hearts away from their original nature. Once they embraced that magnificent guidance, the rust was lifted from their hearts and they were illuminated by the light that Allah revealed to His servant and Messenger.

Thus they received this sublime guidance upon a sound innate disposition, so that two perfections were joined for them: the perfection rooted in the faculties with which they had been created, and the perfection Allah sent down to them. They resembled fertile soil that is good in itself yet left uncultivated, or overrun with thorny acacias and brambles, becoming a refuge for swine and wild beasts. When such soil is cleared of harmful shrubs and vermin and sown with the finest grain and fruit, it yields a harvest beyond description. In the same way, the foremost pioneers from among the Emigrants and the Helpers became the best of Allah’s creation after the prophets, and the best of people after them are those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Resurrection—whether Arab or non-Arab.