Then David (peace be upon him) praised his Lord and said:
“Praise be to Allah who made me a king, revealed the Zabur to me, softened iron for me, subjected the mountains to join me in glorifying Him—together with the birds—and granted me wisdom and decisive speech.”
Next Solomon (peace be upon him) praised his Lord and said:
“Praise be to Allah who subjected to me the winds, the jinn, and humankind; who made the devils labor for me, fashioning whatever I wished—prayer-niches, statues, basins as large as cisterns, and firmly-set cauldrons; who taught me the language of birds, caused a spring of molten copper to flow for me, and granted me a dominion that will belong to no one after me.”
After that Jesus (peace be upon him) praised Allah—exalted is He—and said:
“Praise be to Allah who taught me the Torah and the Gospel, enabled me to heal the blind and the leper and to raise the dead by Allah’s permission, purified me and raised me above those who disbelieved, and protected me from the accursed Shayṭān (Satan), so that he had no power over us.”
Then Muḥammad ﷺ praised his Lord and said:
“All of you have praised your Lord, and I too praise my Lord. Praise be to Allah who sent me as a mercy to all worlds, to all people as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner; who sent down to me the Furqān (the Criterion) containing clarification of all things; who made my community the best nation brought forth for humankind; who made my community a balanced nation; who made my community both the first and the last; who expanded my breast, removed from me my burden, raised for me my renown, and made me the opener and the seal.”
Abraham (peace be upon him) then said: “By this Muḥammad ﷺ has been given superiority over you.” (1)
The author then cited the previously mentioned ḥadith, as related by al-Ḥākim and al-Bayhaqī through the chain of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd ibn Aslam, from his father, from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—marfūʿ—regarding Adam’s words:
“My Lord, I ask You by the right of Muḥammad that You forgive me.”
Allah said, “How do you know of him when I have not yet created him?”
He replied, “I saw written beside Your Name on the foot of the Throne: ‘Lā ilāha illā Allāh, Muḥammad rasūl Allāh.’ I understood, therefore, that You would attach to Your Name only the most beloved of creation to You.”
Allah said, “You have spoken the truth, O Adam. Were it not for Muḥammad, I would not have created you.” (2)
Some of the scholars said: “Allah has raised his remembrance and paired it with His own in the first and the last generations. Likewise He will exalt his rank and station him on the Praiseworthy Platform on the Day of Resurrection, a position the first and the last will envy and to which all creation—even Abraham the Close Friend—will turn with longing, as reported in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (3) earlier and to come.”
As for the honoring of his name among former nations and bygone generations, in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (4) it is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās…