And in the sending of Apostles (_rasuls_) is an advantage and God has sent Apostles of flesh unto flesh with good tidings, warning and explaining to men the things of the world and of faith, of which they have need. And He has aided them with miracles (_mu‘jizat_) which break the order of nature. The first of the Prophets (_nabis_) was Adam and the last is Muhammad, Upon both of them be Peace! A statement of their number has been handed down in several traditions, but the more fitting course is that there should be no limiting to a number in naming them; God Most High has said, “Of them are those concerning whom We have recited to thee, and of them are those concerning whom We have not recited to thee.” And there is no security in a statement of number against there being entered among them some that are not of them, or of there being excluded from them some that are of them. They all give intelligence concerning God Most High, are veracious and sincere, and the most excellent of the Prophets is Muhammad—Upon him be Peace! The Angels are servants of God and work according to His commands. They are not described as masculine or feminine. And God has books which He has revealed to His Prophets, and in them are His commands and His promises. The Night Journey (_mi‘raj_) of the Apostle of God—Upon whom be Blessing and Peace! while awake, in the body, to Heaven, then to what place God Most High willed of the Exalted Regions, is a Verity. The Wonders (_karamat_) of the Saints (_walis_) are a Verity. And a Wonder on the part of a Saint appears by way of a contradiction of the ordinary course of nature, such as passing over a great distance in a short time, and the appearing of meat and drink and clothing at a time of need, and walking upon the water and in the air, and the speech of stones and of beasts, and the warding off of an evil that is approaching, and the guarding of him who is anxious from enemies, and other things of the same kind. And such a thing is to be reckoned as an evidentiary miracle (_mu‘jiza_) on behalf of the Apostle followed by the Saint on whose part the wonder appears. For it is evident by it that he is a Saint and he could never be a Saint unless he were right in his religion and worship and in abiding by the message committed to his Apostle. The most excellent of mankind after the Prophets are Abu Bakr, the Very Veracious (_as-Siddiq_), then Umar, the Divider (_al-Faruq_), then Uthman, he of the Two Lights (_Dhu-n-Nurayn_), then Ali—The good-will of God be upon them! Their Khalifates were in this order, and the Khalifate extended to thirty years; then, thereafter, came kings and princes.