and, in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, on the authority of al-ʿIrbāḍ ibn Sāriyah, it is related that the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:

“Indeed, with Allah I was inscribed as the Seal of the Prophets while Adam was still lying molded in his clay. I will now inform you of the beginning of my affair: I am the supplication of my forefather Abraham, the glad tidings brought by Jesus, and the vision of my mother—she saw, when she bore me, a light emerge from her and illuminate the palaces of al-Shām.”

Thus the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—made it clear that he was already a prophet, and had been written down as such, while Adam was still between spirit and body; that he was recorded with Allah as the Seal of the Prophets while Adam lay fashioned from clay.

What he—peace and blessings be upon him—meant is that Allah had decreed his prophethood, manifested it, and mentioned his name. For that reason it was established at that very time: after Adam’s body had been formed and before the soul was breathed.