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Second indication: Our parable mentioned a most noble commander. We pointed
out that those who see his decorations and medals must know that he is the
king’s favored servant who acts according to the king’s commands. This commander
is God’s Most Noble Messenger. The All‑Holy, the Creator of so beautiful a
universe, must send a noble Messenger, just as the sun must emit light. The sun
cannot exist without emitting light, and Divinity cannot be without revealing
itself by sending Prophets.
Could an absolute, perfect beauty not will to present itself through one who
would demonstrate and display it? Could that perfectly beautiful artistry not
will to make itself known through one who will draw our attention to it? Could
the universal dominion of an all‑embracing Lordship not will to make known its
being One and the Eternally‑Besought‑of‑All to all levels of multiplicity and
particularity through a Messenger ennobled by his double authority? The
universality of his worship makes him the Realm of Multiplicity’s envoy to the
Divine Court, and his nearness to God and his being entrusted with His Message
make him the Divine Court’s envoy to that realm.
Could the One of infinite essential Beauty not will to behold, and have
others behold in numerous mirrors, His Beauty’s aspects and His Grace’s
dimensions? God’s Messenger is His beloved. Through his worship, he holds up a
mirror to Him; the bearer of God’s Message, he makes God Almighty beloved by us
and demonstrates to us the beauty of His Names.
Could the Owner of treasuries filled with extraordinary miracles and
priceless goods not will to show them to an appreciative humanity via the expert
skills of a master jeweler and his descriptive eloquence, thereby revealing His
hidden perfections? Could the One Who shows His Names’ perfection in a universe
so adorned that it resembles a palace decorated with every variety of subtle,
miraculous artistry not appoint a teacher and guide so that humanity might
understand the wonders of His creation?
Could the Lord Who rules and sustains the universe not resolve, by means of
His Messenger, our bewilderment over why there is constant change in the
universe, and answer the questions on everyone’s mind: What is our origin? Where
are we headed? What is our purpose [here]? Could the Majestic Maker, Who makes
Himself known to conscious beings through His fair creation and loved through
His precious gifts, not send a Messenger to convey to them what His Will demands
from them in exchange? Could God create us with a disposition to suffer from
multiplicity (this world and its charms) alongside an ability to engage in
universal worship, without simultaneously wanting us to turn away from
multiplicity and toward Unity by means of a teacher and guide?
Prophethood has many other functions, each of which is a decisive argument
that Divinity necessarily implies Messengership. Has there ever been a person
more worthy and qualified to fulfill these functions, more fitted to the rank of
Messenger, more suited to the task of conveying God’s Message, than Prophet
Muhammad? No. He is the master of Messengers, the foremost of Prophets, the
leader of purified scholars, the nearest to God of those who have drawn near to
Him, the most perfect of creatures, and the master of those who guide to
righteousness.
Leaving aside the countless indications of his Prophethood seen in his recorded
miracles and confirmed by all scholars, the supreme miracle of the Glorious
Qur’an—an ocean of truth and a miraculous book in 40 different aspects—alone
establishes his Prophethood. Since we have discussed these aspects elsewhere,[1]
·we shall limit our discussion here.
[1] Particularly in
The Twenty-fifth Word.
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