ʿAlī al-Anṣārī al-Simākī, a descendant of Abū Dujānah al-Anṣārī—Simāk ibn Aws ibn Kharshah of the Aws tribe, may Allah be pleased with him—undisputedly the leading Shāfiʿī authority of his time and better known as Ibn al-Zamlakānī (may Allah have mercy on him and shower his grave with mercy).

Toward the end of that abridgement he cited certain merits of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, devoting a special chapter to the subject. In it he brought together valuable material, pointed out many benefits and rare gems, yet he omitted other fine points mentioned by earlier imams. I found that he did not carry the discussion through to its conclusion—either because those portions slipped from his manuscript, or because he never completed the composition.

Some of his family, who are among our companions and whose requests deserve to be honored, repeatedly urged me to finish the work: to classify it into chapters, arrange and refine it, expand it and add to it. After seeking Allah’s guidance for a period of time, I set myself to the task in the hope of divine reward.

I had already heard from our shaykh, the eminent, erudite ḥāfiẓ and master critic, Abū al-Ḥajjāj al-Mirrī—may Allah envelop him in His mercy—that the first person to address this topic was Imām Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (may Allah have mercy on him).

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī (may Allah have mercy on him) reports in his work Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa (1), on the authority of his teacher al-Ḥākim Abū ʿAbd Allāh: Abū Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥasan told us, saying that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥātim al-Rāzī narrated from his father. ʿAmr ibn Sawwād said: Al-Shāfiʿī declared, “Allah has not bestowed on any prophet what He bestowed on Muḥammad ﷺ.” I objected, “But He gave Jesus the raising of the dead.” He replied, “He gave Muḥammad ﷺ the palm-trunk beside which he used to preach; when the pulpit was built for him, the trunk yearned until its voice was heard. That is greater than the other.” This is his exact wording, may Allah have mercy on him.

The purpose of citing what follows in this chapter is to call attention to the clear signs, decisive wonders, and manifest proofs that Allah granted His prophets, and to show that Allah combined for His servant and messenger—the master and seal of the prophets—all types of perfections and miracles, while also singling him out with things granted to none before him, as we have mentioned in his unique qualities and noble traits ﷺ.

I also came across an excellent section on this very point in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa by the ḥāfiẓ Abū Nuʿaym Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Iṣfahānī—a comprehensive work in three volumes (2)—where he devoted a chapter to the issue. The jurist Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥāmid likewise treated the matter in his own Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwa, an expansive and magnificent book containing precious rarities. The poet al-Ṣarṣarī also weaves some of these points into his verses, as will be seen.

With Allah’s help, therefore, I shall collect the substance of what is found in those scattered sources, using the briefest wording and the tersest indication. In Allah is all assistance; upon Him is reliance; and there is no power nor strength except through Allah, the Most High, the Most Great.