but may even punish the obedient person who spent his entire life striving to fulfil His commands, exalted is He—such as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and reward a disobedient person who spent his entire life committing every kind of sin, even the gravest of them, such as Iblīs and Pharaoh.

And that the prophets are not infallible; rather, they may fall into error, lapses, wickedness, lying, forgetfulness, and other such things.

And that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—(1) did not expressly designate anyone as imam (2); that he died without (3) leaving a testament; and that the imam after the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was Abū Bakr ibn Abī Quhāfa, through the pledge of allegiance (4) that Umar ibn al-Khattāb gave him (5), with the approval (6) of four men: Abū Ubayda [ibn al-Jarrāh] (7), Sālim, the client of Abū (8) Hudhayfa, Usayd ibn Hudayr (9), and Bashīr ibn Sa'd [ibn Ubāda] (10).

Then, after him, came Umar [ibn al-Khattāb] (11), by Abū Bakr’s express designation of him, and then—