This is where those who preferred the angels over the prophets and the righteous went wrong: they compared the angels’ perfection with the righteous at their beginning, while they were still deficient. Had they instead considered the state of the prophets and the righteous after entering the Gardens and attaining the pleasure of the Most Merciful, when everything deficient and blameworthy has disappeared and everything bringing mercy and peace has been attained, until they are firmly settled in their abiding home—

“and the angels will enter upon them from every gate,”

“Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. How excellent is the final home!”—

then, with that state taken into account, its superiority over the state of other created beings would have become apparent. Otherwise, could any reasonable person judge one of them by his state before attaining perfection when discussing praise, superiority, and freedom from shortcomings and faults? If that were the basis of judgment, one would have to consider him when he was a drop of fluid, then a clinging clot, then a lump of flesh, then when the spirit was breathed into him, then as a newborn, a nursing infant, a weaned child, and through further stages. Clearly, in these states he did not yet possess the qualities of perfection that would entitle him to the fullest praise and distinction, and to superiority over every kind and generation. His superiority is determined only by his ultimate state, when perfection has been attained.

Some people suppose that someone born into Islam who has never disbelieved is superior to someone who was a disbeliever and then embraced Islam. This is incorrect. Rather, what counts is the final outcome: whichever of them is more mindful of Allah in his final state is superior. It is well known that the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and the Helpers, who believed in Allah and His Messenger after having disbelieved, are superior to those born into Islam, whether their own children or others. Indeed, someone who has known evil and tasted it, then known good and tasted it