it is authentic, then the messengers number three-hundred and thirteen; and if its authenticity is not established, it is still possible that they were that many—or even more—just as it is possible that they were fewer, for Allah the Exalted has told us that He sent a messenger to every nation.

—“We have sent you with the truth, as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; and there has never been a nation without a warner having appeared within it.” ⦗Fāṭir: 24⦘

It is also related that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “You complete the tally of seventy nations; you are the noblest of them and the most honored in Allah’s sight.” This is a good hadith.

Allah the Exalted has likewise said in Sūrah al-Zumar:—“Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups; when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its keepers will say to them, ‘Did messengers from among yourselves not come to you, reciting to you the signs of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?’ They will answer, ‘Indeed they did; but the decree of punishment has become inevitable for the disbelievers.’” ⦗al-Zumar: 71⦘