Sahaba - The Blessed

superiorities among all the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’.
No one else has a share from them. Siddîq, (i.e. Abû Bakr,)
‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ and our master, the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam’ own, so to speak, the same one house. The
difference between them is like that which is between the two
storeys of a house. Fârûq, (i.e. ’Umar,) ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ also is
in the same honourable house as an assistant to Abû Bakr ‘radiy-
Allâhu ’anh’. The other blessed Sahâbîs are, as it were, neighbors
and fellow-citizens of the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’, their closeness to the blessed Prophet being in proportion
to their success in observing his Sunnat-i-saniyya, [i.e. the Islamic
religion]. When this is the case with them, one should imagine the
positions of the Awliyâ among the later-comers! Accordingly,
what could ever have fallen to their share in the business of
realizing the greatness of the Shaikhayn? So great and so
numerous are the merits and virtues they possess that they share
the same position with Prophets ‘alaihim-us-salâm’. With the
exception of the rank of prophethood, they enjoy having all their
superiorities. As a matter of fact, our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi
wa sallam’ stated, “Were there Prophets to succeed me, ’Umar
would be a Prophet.”
Imâm-i-Ghazâlî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ relates: When the
Khalîfa ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was martyred, Abdullah ibn
’Umar said to the Ashâb-i-kirâm: “Nine-tenths of knowledge has
joined ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ to death!” When some of the
audience showed hesitancy because they did not understand his
statement, he explained, “By ‘knowledge’ I mean ‘to know Allâhu
ta’âlâ’, and not the knowledge concerning wudû’ (ablution) and
ghusl (ritual washing) [1] .” How could anyone ever comprehend the
greatness of Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ notwithstanding this
fact about ’Umar, whose total number of goodnesses, as is stated
in a hadîth-i-sherîf, could add up to only one of the so many
goodnesses possessed by the former? The difference between
’Umar and the Siddîq (Abû Bakr) ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ is
greater than the difference between the Siddîq and Rasûlullah
‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. This fact sets a benchmark whereby
to imagine how far lower others must be than the Siddîq ‘radiy-
Allâhu ’anh’. Nor after death were the Shaikhayn ‘radiy-Allâhu
[1] There is detailed information about ablution and ghusl in the second
and fourth, respectively, chapters of the fourth fascicle of Endless
Bliss.
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