With Love to Muhammad (sa) - The Khatam-un-Nabiyyin — Page 24
24 With Love to Muhammad sa the Kh ā tam-un-Nabiyy ī n 5. Carry Weight (The credible and respected: He has been working here for 20 years and he carries a lot of weight with management. ) Imagine how foolish someone trying to translate the above literally would appear! It is the context and the usage of the above phrases that determines their meanings, not the literal dictionary meanings of the individual words. For example, the idiom cream of the crop came to be known as the best , most likely because cream rises to the top of the milk. The same connotation applies to la crème de la crème which means the best of the best. Hence, the phrase Kh ā tam-un-Nabiyy ī n idiomatically means the Best of the prophets and if individual words of this phrase are taken out and checked in the dictionary, we would not be able to get this idiomatic translation. The Arabic language is a very powerful, mub ī n 8 , and beautiful language which allows multiple meanings to be applied to the same words. Judgement is required to sift through the different meanings of kh ā tam (literal and figurative) in order to select the meaning(s) which demonstrate the exalted status and greatness of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa. Any intelligent and rational person would accept the Ahmadiyya Muslim understanding that the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa is the seal of authentication as well as the best of the prophets. As a matter of fact, the meaning “Best of the prophets” in every kind of quality and skill , is the logical result and very essence of being titled the Kh ā tam ( Seal ) of the prophets. The same is being stated in the following had ī th of the Holy Prophet Muhammad sa : 8 Arabic: Eloquent and clear