Thus, among beings the most superior are animate beings, and among animate beings the most superior are conscious beings, and among conscious beings the most superior are true human beings, and among true human beings the one who carried out the above-mentioned duties at the most comprehensive level and in the most perfect form, would of a certainty rise through an all-embracing Ascension to “the distance of two bow-lengths,” knock at the door of eternal happiness, open the treasury of mercy, and see the hidden truths of belief. Again it would be him.
Seventhly: As is plain to see, beings are made beautiful with the very finest embellishment. This demonstrates that their Maker possesses a powerful will to make beautiful and intention to adorn. And this shows that the Maker necessarily possesses a strong desire and holy love towards His art. And among beings it was again most certainly he who displayed altogether in himself the most comprehensive and subtle wonders of art, and knew them and made them known and himself loved, and who appreciated the beauties to be found in other beings, declaring: “What wonders God has willed!”, and was most beloved in the sight of his Maker, who nurtures and loves His art.
Thus, it was again self-evidently he (UWBP) who, declaring: “All glory be to God! What wonders God has willed! God is most Great!” in the face of the exquisite qualities that gild beings and the subtle perfections that illuminate them, causes the heavens to ring out, and who, through the strains of the Qur’an, causes the universe to reverberate, and through his admiration and appreciation, his contemplation and display, his mentioning of the divine names and affirmation of divine unity, brings land and sea to a state of ecstasy.
Thus, in accordance with the saying “the cause is like the doer,”1 it is pure truth and sheer wisdom that the one on whose scales shall be found the equivalent of all the good deeds performed by his community, and whose spiritual perfections draw strength from the benedictions of all his community,2 and who, as a result of the duties he discharged in his prophethood, received immaterial recompense and boundless emanations of divine mercy and love, should advance by the stairway of the Ascension as far as Paradise, “the Lote-tree of the farthest limit,” the divine throne, and “the distance of two bow-lengths.”(53:1-18)
This resembles the Hadith “Whoever points out an instance of good [to someone] will receive the same recompense as the one who performs it.” See, Tirmidhi, ‘Ilm, 14; Musnad, v, 357; Abu Hanifa, al-Musnad, i, 151.
See, Qur’an, 33:56; Bukhari, Adhan, 8; Tafsir (17:)11: Muslim, Salat, 14; Abu Da’ud, Salat, 37.