When the word Nabi is used in the Quran, it points to activities that are in the scope of worldly matters, but when a higher reality is denoted, such as experiencing a certain reality, the word Rasul is used instead.
Whatever has been mentioned in regard to reaching Allah and living its requisites, it is always related to Risalah and the Rasul.
For all that is mentioned in regard to the individual realizing and experiencing his essence, the word Wali (saint) is used.
That is, highly elevated beings who’ve been assigned external duties based on sainthood have been denoted as Nabi or Rasul, signifying a difference to saints who experience a state of closeness with their essential reality.
If we reevaluate things in this light, we encounter much deeper levels of meanings embedded in the verses of the Quran…
To put it another way, the saints who bring and establish new sharia laws are called Nabi, while the saints who call people to realize and experience their essential reality are called Rasul.
Sainthood isn’t passed on from father to son; it is the direct result of experiencing one’s essence.
When the reality on which sainthood is based becomes apparent on a Nabi or a Rasul, it is called ‘revelation’; when sainthood becomes apparent on a Wali, it is called ‘inspiration’.
Not only does the use of the word ‘prophet’ veil all such facts, but many secrets to which they point are also left concealed.
One cannot duly pray with the translation of the Quran! The Quran can never be translated into another language.
The Quran is there to be understood and experienced, any interpretation of it depends on the insight and understanding of the interpreter, whatever it may be…
This is my understanding based on my insight. Only Allah knows the absolute truth.
13.9.1998
Izmir