For the prophets have precedence in time over Allah’s close friends in this community, and the prophets—may the finest blessings and peace be upon them—are superior to Allah’s close friends. How, then, could all the prophets and Allah’s close friends acquire their knowledge of Allah only from someone who comes after them and claims to be the Seal of Allah’s Close Friends? The last of Allah’s close friends is not the best of them, even though the last of the prophets is the best of them. Muhammad’s superiority—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is established by scriptural texts indicating this, such as his saying:

“I am the master of the children of Adam, and I say this without boasting.”

And his saying:

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

On “the Night of the Ascension,” Allah raised his rank above all the prophets. He was thus the foremost of those described in the words of the Most High:

“Those messengers—We favored some of them over others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in rank.”

There are other proofs besides these. Each of the prophets receives revelation from Allah. Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—in particular had no need of anyone else in his prophethood. His revealed law therefore needed neither a predecessor nor a successor. This contrasts with the Messiah, who referred his followers to the Torah for most of the law and came to complete it. For this reason, Christians needed the prophetic revelations preceding the Messiah, such as the Torah, the Psalms, and the full twenty-four prophetic revelations.

The communities before us needed people granted inspiration, unlike the community of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Through him, Allah gave them all they needed, so that, with him, they needed neither a prophet nor anyone granted inspiration. Rather, there were gathered in him virtues and forms of knowledge