21:107 We sent thee only as a mercy to the worlds.
In the days of the interval between prophets, before Muṣṭafā the Arab was given his mission, the beauty of the submission had pulled its face behind the mask of exaltedness. They considered naturing the effector and originator. They had taken up a road whose end was nothing but blindness and misguidance. They considered intellect as God, they made nature its messenger, and they called the spheres the determiner. They made what intellect deemed beautiful their Shariah and they called what nature disliked “prohibited things.” They were busy with the celestial figures and guises and wasted their days with epicycles and falsifications. Suddenly the sun of the Muhammadan Shariah’s good fortune appeared from the horizon of the unitary welcome: We sent thee only as a mercy to the worlds.
Tubbaʿ, the king of Himyar, said to his diviner, “Do you find any kingdom whose kingdom is greater than mine?” The diviner said, “Yes, there is a prophet on the way whose kingdom will be greater than the kingdom of the world’s folk. He will be a master, a paragon, a leader; on his forehead will be the light of prostration, on his eyebrows the light of humility, on his hair the light of beauty, in his eyes the light of heedfulness, in his face the light of mercy, between his shoulders the light of prophecy, in his heart the light of recognition, in his secret core the light of love, in his speech the light of wisdom, in his wisdom the light of jealousy, in his jealousy the light of the Presence. He will be pious and blessed and aided by triumph. He is described in the Psalms, and his community is considered most excellent in the scriptures. He will dispel the darknesses with light. He is Aḥmad the prophet. Blessed will be his community when he comes!”
He was a man who came out from under the cloak of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. He passed by mortal loins, but he received help from the Unseen. God transformed his states and words: Surely thou hast a tremendous character [68:4]. The character of mortal nature was removed, and the character of the Qur’an was put in its place. The speech of mortal nature was taken, and pure revelation was given: He does not speak out of caprice. It is naught but a revelation revealed [53:3-4]. Hence he came speaking of the Shariah, traveling to the Real, and moving in accordance with the command.
On the night of the Miʿrāj, the paradises were presented to him, the marvels and the chambers were shown to him, and he did not pay one speck of attention to any of them. This embroidery of loyalty was sewn on his limpid cape: “The eyesight did not swerve, nor did it trespass” [53:17]. Again, when he stepped onto the carpet of secret whispering in the prayer, he said, “The delight of my eyes was placed in the prayer,” for it is the station of “The praying person is whispering with his Lord.”
We sent thee only as a mercy to the world. Part of his mercy is that he did not forget you in any station, whether he was in Mecca or Medina, whether he was in the mosque or in his room. In the same way, he did not forget you at the summit of the Throne and at Two-Bows’ Length. In Mecca, he was saying, “And pardon us” [2:286]. In the cave, he was saying, “Surely God is with us” [9:40]. At the top of the Two-Bows’ Length, he was saying, “Peace be upon us and upon God’s wholesome servants.” And at the moment of death, he was saying, “God is my vicegerent over you.” Tomorrow at the praiseworthy station [17:79], when the carpet of intercession is spread, he will be saying, “My community! My community!”
