the Muslims. None of them has said that Allah may punish His prophets (1), or that the punishment of His prophets could ever proceed from Him. Rather, they unanimously agree that He will inevitably reward them (2) [nothing other than this will proceed from Him] (3), because He has promised and declared that He would do so. He is true to His promise, and this is known by necessity.
Moreover, among (4) the theologians of Ahl al-Sunnah who affirm divine decree are those who say: This is known solely through His truthful report (5)—that is, through purely revelatory evidence.
Others say: Rather, it may also be known apart from the report, through rational proofs, although the Lawgiver has drawn attention to them and guided people to them. For when His wisdom, mercy, and justice are known, it is also known that these necessarily entail honoring anyone endowed with the qualities befitting such treatment. [As] Khadīja said [may Allah be pleased with her, speaking to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace], before (6) she knew that he was a prophet: “By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you (7). You uphold ties of kinship, support the helpless, provide people with what they lack, honor the guest, and lend assistance amid adversities in the cause of truth (8).”
(1) A and B read: “None of them said, ‘Allah punishes a prophet.’”
(2) A and B read: “that Allah will inevitably reward them”; N reads: “that He must inevitably reward them”; M reads: “that He must reward them, *alā mahālihi*.”
(3) The passage in square brackets is absent from N and M.
(4) B reads: “by necessity, since among …,” etc.; A reads: “by necessity; among …,” etc.
(5) N and M read: “the report of the truthful one.”
(6) A and B read: “as Khadīja—may Allah be pleased with her—said before …”; N reads: “Khadīja said before she knew …”; M reads: “Khadīja said to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace—before …”; Ayn reads: “as Khadīja said before …”; perhaps the correct reading is the one I have adopted in the text.
(7) The word “ever” appears only in N and M.
(8) This is part of a lengthy hadith narrated by Āisha—may Allah be pleased with her. It begins, in al-Bukhārī’s wording: “The revelation received by the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—began with …,” and the remainder of the hadith. See al-Bukhārī, 1/3–4 (Book of the Beginning of Revelation, chapter “How Revelation Began”). The hadith recurs at numerous places in al-Bukhārī; see *Fath al-Bārī*, Salafiyya edition, nos. 3392, 4953, 4955, 4956, 4957, and 6982. The hadith of Āisha—may Allah be pleased with her—is also found in Muslim, 1/139–142 (Book of Faith, chapter “The Beginning of Revelation to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him”), and *al-Musnad*, Halabi edition, 6/223, 233.