Opinions differ concerning the number of the prophets —salutations to them. Most historians assert that from the time of Adam till that of the seal [i.e., Muhammad] one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets had been sent, and this opinion is endorsed by Ebn Hanân in his Ssahih. Others believe that their number does not exceed eight thousand; and Abu-Ala’llâi Moussuli adopts this conjecture in his Jámi’, in which he states that his lordship, the refuge of apostleship, had spoken as follows: ‘Allah, the Most High, has sent me, who am Muhammad, after eight thousand prophets.’ Of these eight thousand prophets, four thousand had been appointed to guide and to direct the children of Esrâil, and the remaining four thousand were sent to various other nations. Abdullah Bin Ahmad Bin Khalil—Allah have mercy on him—has in his Kitâb Ta’rif-ulambiâ related on the authority of Yahia Bin Sa’id that the chosen Lord [i.e., Muhammad] has said: ‘I am the seal of a thousand prophets or more.’
Those who adhere to the first-mentioned opinion assert that of the whole number of one hundred and twenty-four thousand prophets, only four thousand three hundred and thirteen were divinely inspired, and that all the others were uninspired. He is an inspired prophet to whom the Divine inspiration has been sent through Jebrâil—t. w. s.— apart from the circumstance of his receiving also a book or not. He is an uninspired prophet who has, for the sake of promulging a revelation, been appointed over a nation only by means of a vision [in his sleep].
The grades of the prophets are four, namely: Prophecy, Apostleship, Uvlu-l-a’zm,* and Sealship. The first grade is general, and the second special, but the fourth is the most special. Concerning the signification of the expression Uvlu-l-a’zm, there is a great difference of opinion, but as the author desires to be brief, he will expatiate only a little thereon: Some U’lâma call all the prophets Uvlu-l-a’zm, except the Lord Yûnas. Others assert that the Uvlu-l-a’zm were founders of religion, and according to them Adam, Nûh, Ebrahim, Mûsa, I’sa, and Muhammad—the blessings of Allah be on him and on them—are all Uvlu-l-a’zm. Others, again, state that the Uvlu-l-a’zm were abrogators of religions, and according to them Adam was not an Uvlu-l-a’zm, but the five others just named after him were such. There is but one Seal, as all the people [of Muhammad] agree, namely, his blessed and perfect essence the Lord Muhammad, who was without any doubt the highest of all the prophets. It is related that the most excellent of prophets after his lordship was Ebrahim, the friend [of God]; then Mûsa, the speaker [with God]; then I’sa, and then Nûh (t. w. s.). There are four possessors of books, the first being Mûsa, possessor of the Pentateuch; the second is Dâud, possessor of the Psalms; the third is I’sa, possessor of the Gospel; and the fourth is Huzrat Sayyid Wulud Adam Muhammad Bin A’bdullah Bin A’bdul Mutalleb—u. w. b., etc.—possessor of the Qurân.
Some relate that twenty-one pages have descended to Adam, twenty-nine to Sheth, thirty to Edris, ten to Nûh, and also ten to Ebrahim. The blessings of Allah be on our prophet, on all other prophets and inspired messengers, martyrs, and righteous men.
It has not escaped the intelligence of the attentive reader that the delay in completing this portion of the work is mainly attributable to the insertion of details unworthy to be recorded. It is, moreover, certain that if His Highness the Amir—the protector of learned and good men, may his reign endure for ever—had not taken a fancy to these stories, not one-hundredth part of them would have been recorded, especially as the task itself was a very difficult one, and as envious critics were ever prone to blame the author, who is, however, fully satisfied with his patron’s approbation—may Allah perpetuate his glory— and will now relate the history of the kings of Persia.*