Muhammad was not the father of any of your men, meaning he was not the father of a man among you in reality, so that it could be established between him and them what is established between a father and his son regarding the sanctity of marriage and kinship. But he was the Messenger of Allah, and every Messenger is the father of his community in terms of the obligation of respect and reverence towards him, and the obligation of compassion and advice for them towards him, not in the other rulings established between fathers and sons. And Zaid is one of your men who is not truly his son, so his ruling is like your ruling, and the claim and adoption are merely for the purpose of distinction and closeness, nothing more. And he was the Seal of the Prophets, meaning that if he had a son who reached the age of men, he would have been a prophet, and he would not have been the Seal of the Prophets, as it is narrated that he said about Ibrahim when he passed away: 'If he had lived, he would have been a prophet.' [This is narrated by Ibn Majah through the chain of Muqsim from Ibn Abbas in the course of a narration. And in the narration of Al-Bukhari from the hadith of Ibn Abi Awfa: 'If it had been decreed that there would be a prophet after Muhammad, his son would have lived, but there is no prophet after him.'] If you say: Was he not the father of Al-Tahir, Al-Tayyib, Al-Qasim, and Ibrahim? I say: They have been excluded from the ruling of negation by his saying 'of your men' for two reasons. One of them is that these did not reach the age of men. The second is that he attributed the men to them, and these are his men, not their men. If you say: Was he not the father of Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn? I say: Yes, but they were not men at that time, and they are also from his men, not from their men. Another thing is that he intended his children specifically, not the children of his children, due to Allah's saying 'and the Seal of the Prophets.' Do you not see that Al-Hasan and Al-Husayn lived until one of them reached over forty and the other over fifty? It is read: 'But the Messenger of Allah' in the accusative, as an apposition to 'the father of any of your men,' and in the nominative as: 'But he is the Messenger of Allah.' And 'but' with emphasis indicates the omission of the predicate, its estimation being: 'But the Messenger of Allah is known to you,' meaning: he did not have a male child. And 'Seal' with a فتح (fatḥa) on the ت (taa) means the seal, and with a كسر (kasra) means the seal and the doer of sealing. The reading of Ibn Mas'ud strengthens this: 'But a prophet who sealed the prophets.' If you say: How was he the last of the prophets while Jesus descends in the end of times? I say: The meaning of him being the last of the prophets is that no one will be prophesied after him, and Jesus is one who was prophesied before him, and when he descends, he will descend acting according to the Sharia of Muhammad, praying towards his Qibla, as if he is part of his community.