worship performed by all his community is being added to the record of his perfections. He is also everyday the object of the countless supplications of his vast community, in addition to being the object of infinite Divine mercy in an infinite fashion and with an infinite capacity to receive. He is, indeed, the result and the most perfect fruit of the universe, the interpreter and the beloved of the Creator of the cosmos. Hence his true nature in its entirety, and the truth of all his perfections, cannot be contained in the human qualities recorded in books of history and biography. Certainly, the stature of a blessed being with the Archangels Gabriel and Michael as two aides-de-camp at his side in the Battle of Badr,(14) is not to be found in the form of a person bargaining with a beduin in the marketplace over the price of a horse, bringing forth Hudhayfa as his sole witness.(15)

In order not to proceed in error, one should raise his head beyond the ordinary qualities of the Prophet (PBUH) that pertain to his participation in the human state, and behold instead his true nature and luminous stature that pertain to the rank of messengership. Otherwise, one will either show him irreverence, or instil doubts in oneself. Heed the following comparison for an understanding of this mystery.

Suppose that a seed of the date-tree was planted under the earth, has sprouted and become a large, fertile

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(14) Bukhari, Maghazi 11; Ahmad al-Banna al-Sa’ati, al-Fath al-Rabbani xxi, 26.
(15) Abu Da’ud, ‘Aqdiyya 20; Musnad v, 215.