The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 158
PREFACE ESSENCE OF ISLAM يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِي خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا 157 Meaning that: God Almighty bestows wisdom upon whomsoever He pleases, and he who is granted wisdom is given abundant good. 'Wisdom' refers to knowledge of the greatness of the Being and attributes of God, the Maker, and 'abundant good' refers to Islam, as is mentioned by Allah, glorified be His eminence, in the Noble Quran: Then, in another verse He هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ 20 says: قُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا 3 Meaning that: My Lord! Grant me perfect knowledge of Your great- ness and cognition of Your ways and Your attributes. And then at another place He said: وبذلك أُمِرْتُ وَ أَنَا أَوَّلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ By combining these two verses, it becomes clear that our Holy Prophet, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, was designated as the foremost among the Muslims because he possessed the greatest knowl- edge of divine understanding. In other words, his understanding of the divine realities surpassed that of all others. For this reason, his Islam is also the highest of all and he is the foremost of the Muslims. Another 1. Surah al-Baqarah, 2:270 [Publisher] 2. That is better than what they hoard (Sūrah Yūnus, 10:59). [Publisher] 3. Surah Ṭā Hā, 20:115 [Publisher] 4. And so am I commanded, and I am the first of those who submit (Surah al- An'am, 6:164). [Publisher]