of Allah and His friends. It is like the retort made to someone who says, “The roof collapsed upon them from beneath them!”—to which one replies, “Neither intellect nor Qur’an supports such a claim.”

In every era the prophets are superior to the saints (awliyāʾ) of this ummah, and the prophets—may the most excellent blessings and peace be upon them—are above the saints; how much more, then, when all the prophets are considered together! As for the saints, they only gain knowledge of Allah from one who comes after them and claims to be the “Seal of the Saints,” yet the last of the saints is not the best of them, whereas the last of the prophets is the best of them. The superiority of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is established by explicit texts, such as his statement:

“I am the master of the children of Adam, and this is no boast,”

and his statement:

“I shall come to the gate of Paradise and ask for it to be opened. The keeper will say, ‘Who are you?’ I will reply, ‘Muhammad.’ He will say, ‘I have been ordered not to open it for anyone before you.’ ”

[The need of Jesus’s law—peace be upon him—for the previous revelations]

On the night of the miʿrāj Allah raised his rank above that of all the prophets, so he is the most deserving of the divine words:

“Those messengers—We favored some of them over others; among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree” (Q 2:253),

and there are many other proofs besides. Each of them receives revelation from Allah,