The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 255
The Holy Prophetsa 255 door of converse with the Divine would never be closed. . Beside him, there is no Prophet who possesses the seal of. Prophethood. It is only by the testimony of his seal that a. Prophethood can be bestowed for which it is a condition that the recipient must be a follower of the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him]. His high courage and sympathy did not wish to leave his people in a condition of deficiency and were not reconciled to the door of revelation, which is at the root of all understanding, being closed. Yet, in order to preserve the sign of the closing of Prophethood, he desired that the grace of revelation should be bestowed through obedience to him and that this door should be closed to anyone who was not his follower. God appointed him Khātam-ul-Anbiyā' in this sense. . Thus it was established till the Day of Judgement, that a person who does not prove being his follower through true obedience and who does not devote his full being to obeying him, cannot become the recipient of perfect revelation. Direct Prophethood has been ended with the. Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him]; but Prophethood by way of reflection, which means the receipt of revelation through the grace of Muḥammad [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him] will continue till the Day of Judgement, so that the door of perfection of mankind should not be closed and this sign should not disappear from the world that the high resolve of the. Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him] desired that the doors of converse with the Divine should remain open till the Judgement Day and the understanding of the Divine, which is the basis of salvation, should not disappear. [Haqiqat-ul-Waḥī, Rūḥānī Khazā'in, Vol. 22, pp. 29-30]