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mentioned the angels and the prophets, and it is well known that the prophets are superior to those who believe in the pages that are hung up.
Similarly, the fact that the poor enter Paradise before the rich does not mean that, once they have entered, they will rank higher than all the rich. They enter first only because they are spared the reckoning.
This subject of comparing degrees of merit—whether between different categories of beings, deeds, and attributes, or between individuals within the same category—is a vast subject in which many people err. May Allah guide us to the straight path.
ذَكَرُوا الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَالْأَنْبِيَاءَ وَمَعْلُومٌ أَنَّ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ أَفْضَلُ مِنْ هَؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْوَرَقِ الْمُعَلَّقِ. وَنَظِيرُهُ كَوْنُ الْفُقَرَاءِ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ قَبْلَ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَدُلُّ عَلَى أَنَّهُمْ بَعْدَ الدُّخُولِ يَكُونُونَ أَرْفَعَ مَرْتَبَةً مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْأَغْنِيَاءِ وَإِنَّمَا سَبَقُوا لِسَلَامَتِهِمْ مِنْ الْحِسَابِ. وَهَذَا بَابُ التَّفْضِيلِ بَيْنَ الْأَنْوَاعِ فِي الْأَعْيَانِ وَالْأَعْمَالِ وَالصِّفَاتِ أَوْ بَيْنَ أَشْخَاصِ النَّوْعِ بَابٌ عَظِيمٌ يَغْلَطُ فِيهِ خَلْقٌ كَثِيرٌ وَاَللَّهُ يَهْدِينَا سَوَاءَ الصِّرَاطِ.