Thus, Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is the supreme imam and the foremost teacher of these two sources from which every spring of knowledge bursts forth.

He therefore taught his community the Book and wisdom, made them aware of the inner reasons behind each ruling and its secrets, and turned his whole life—his words, actions, tacit approvals, guidance, outward and inward character, and his complete, many-sided biography in every field—into a lesson for the believers and a commentary on the Book and wisdom.

He united for them the teaching of fundamental and subsidiary rulings, the means by which those rulings are grasped and attained, and the avenues that lead to them—through reason, transmission, reflection, and contemplation—and he showed them how to draw the sciences of the universe from their proper sources and wellsprings.

He laid out for them all the benefits and fruits of that knowledge, explained the Straight Path—its beliefs, ethics, and deeds—and clarified what awaits the one who follows it of immediate and ultimate good with Allah, and what awaits the one who turns away from it of immediate and ultimate punishment and harm.

By virtue of this instruction that issued from the noble Prophet, whether received firsthand or conveyed, the finest of the believers became godly scholars firmly grounded in knowledge, rightly guided guides, and the foremost of the truthful. The rest of the believers, each according to his rank and station, also received an abundant share of this tremendous good; that is Allah’s favor, which He bestows upon whom He wills, and Allah is the Possessor of immense grace.

Through this teaching they emerged from every form of misguidance; the various evils and ignorances were swept away (1); perfect light was completed for them and the darknesses were dispelled. What an incomparable blessing, whose value cannot be measured and whose full thanks the believers can never hope to enumerate.