Life of Ahmad — Page 832
REMOVES A MISCONCEPTION as 832 The phrase Kh a tamun Nabiyy i n is interpreted to mean 'the last of the Prophets' by Lane , most of the contents of whose lexicon are drawn from the T a jul ‘Ur u s of Murta da Ez-zabeedee. He was born in 1702, came to Cairo in 1753 and finished the T a j in 1767. He died in 1791. It is an excellent lexicon but, unfortunately, no authority is quoted with respect to the phrase in question and no illustration is given from its classical use which should decide its meaning. On the contrary, the general trend of the language leads one to a different conclusion. In one of his sayings the Holy Prophet sa calls his uncle, ‘Abb a s ra , Kh a tamul Muh a jir i n. 204 But it does not mean that ‘Abb a s was the last refugee of the whole Muslim world. Similarly Ali is called Kh a tim-uI-Auliy a ’. 205 Ibn-e-Khalad u n says this phrase is understood to mean that Ali ra was a perfect saint and not the last 206. An Arab poet, Hasan bin Wah a b, calls Abu Tam a m (the compiler of H im a sa ) Kh a tamush-Shu‘ar a ’ 207 Obviously Abu Tam a m was not the last poet. The word ' Khatam ', therefore, used in such phrases means the best and not the last. No illustration is available in the whole of the classical language which can bear out the interpretation put upon the phrase Kh a tamun Nabbiy i n by Lane in his lexicon. 204 Kanzul ‘Umm a l , Vol. VI. , p 178. 205 Tafs i r Sa f i , under 33: 40. 206 Muqaddama , Vol II, p. 165-167. 207 Wafyatul A‘y a n li ibni Khalliq a n , vol. 1, p. 123, Cairo.