圣经记载，耶稣基督提出了以下逻辑标准，用以分辨真假先知：

The Bible reports that Jesus Christ  offered the following logical criteria for distinguishing true prophets from false ones:

"你们要提防假先知，他们到你们这里来，外表披着羊皮，内心却是残暴的狼。你们可以从他们的果子认出他们。人会从荆棘里摘葡萄，或从蒺藜里摘无花果吗？照样，好树结好果子，坏树结坏果子。好树不能结坏果子，坏树也不能结好果子。凡不结好果子的树，都要砍下来扔在火里。所以，你们可以从他们的果子认出他们。"47

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruits you will know them.47

先知尔撒可能是通过这些“果实”来表达：一个人的行为胜过言语，能够反映其品格，因此真正先知的个人品行必定良善。他或许还意指，其教导对他人产生的积极影响必定是良好的，或者信息本身必须是对纯洁与良善的明确呼唤。分析穆罕默德ﷺ的使命之妙处在于，这三种解释对他而言都成立。接下来的三章将分别说明他的品格、他的成就以及他的使命，如何共同有力地证明他的先知身份——本章从他的品格谈起。

The Prophet Jesus  may have intended by these “fruits” that actions speak louder than words about a person’s character, and therefore the personal conduct of a true prophet must be good. He may have also intended that the positive impact of his teachings on others will be good, or that the message itself must be a clear call to purity and goodness. The beauty of analyzing the ministry of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is that all three interpretations would stand true for him. The following three chapters will illustrate how his character, his accomplishments, and his message all make a powerful case for his prophethood— beginning with his character in this chapter.

真主在穆罕默德ﷺ身上汇集了最卓越的品质，以此证明他确实是受到神圣授权的。他的品格从各个角度都熠熠生辉，无论是亲身与他相处的人，还是后来阅读他传记的人，都有所察觉。他们都在穆罕默德ﷺ身上看到了一种非凡的真诚、坚定信念与美德的生活方式，这对任何怀疑他先知身份的人都构成了强有力的挑战。正如著名穆斯林神学家伊本·泰米叶（卒于1328年）所说：众所周知，自称是先知的人，要么是受造物中最优秀、最高尚的人，要么是其中最恶劣、最邪恶的人……那么，最优秀、最高尚的人与最恶劣、最邪恶的人，怎么可能会被混淆呢？……从来没有哪个自称先知的撒谎者，不会在任何稍具辨别力的人面前暴露其无知、欺诈、邪恶和魔鬼般的行径。48

God combined in Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the most illustrious qualities, as evidence that he was in fact authorized by the Divine. His character sparkled from every angle, and this was noticed both by those who experienced him firsthand and those who later read his biography. They all found in Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم a lifestyle of extraordinary sincerity, conviction, and virtue that posed a formidable challenge to any doubter in his prophethood. As Ibn Taymīyah (d. 1328), an eminent Muslim theologian, said, It is known that someone who claims to be a prophet is either one of the best and noblest of the creation, or the worst and most wicked of them … so how could there ever be any confusion between the best and noblest and between the worst and most wicked? … There has never been any liar who claimed prophethood except that his ignorance, dishonesty, wickedness, and devilish ways became clear to anyone who possessed the smallest degree of discernment.48

一个人可能会怀疑接下来几页中记载的可靠性，并疑惑这些内容是否不过是穆罕默德ﷺ的崇拜者对其品格伟大所作的虔诚夸张。这一疑问将在关于奇迹的讨论中作更详细的探讨，但在此我们先引用两位专门研究伊斯兰圣训传承可追溯性的非穆斯林史学家的见证。英国著名东方学家大卫·S·马戈利乌斯（David S. Margoliouth，1940年去世）谈到伊斯兰学术中的伊斯纳德（isnād）体系时说，该体系要求报道只能通过经过严格审查的传述者链条来传递，其在保证准确性方面的价值无可质疑，穆斯林以其圣训学为傲是有道理的。在其他古代记录中，我们只能依据作者的断言来接受所述内容：希腊或罗马史家很少告诉我们其信息的来源……49 即便是像伯纳德·刘易斯（Bernard Lewis，2018年去世）这样对现代伊斯兰与穆斯林持尖锐批评态度的坚定东方学家，也承认圣训传统的力量。这位英美史学家写道：“然而，他们对传述链条的审慎考察，以及对传述叙事中各种异文的细致收集与保存，赋予中世纪阿拉伯史学一种在古代无先例、在同时代中世纪西方无可比拟的专业性与精密性。相比之下，拉丁基督教世界的史学显得贫乏而单薄，即便是更为先进、更为复杂的希腊基督教世界的史学，在卷帙、类别和分析深度上，也仍逊于伊斯兰的历史文献。”50

A person may wonder about the historical reliability of the reports in the following pages, and why trust that these are anything more than pious exaggerations by Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم admirers on the greatness of his character. This concern will be revisited in greater detail amidst the discussion on miracles, but let us cite here the testimony of two non-Muslim historiographers who specialized in the traceability of Islam’s prophetic traditions. David S. Margoliouth (d. 1940), the famous English Orientalist, said regarding the isnād system in Islamic scholarship, which requires that reports only be transmitted through a rigorously scrutinized chain of narrators, …its value in making for accuracy cannot be questioned, and the Muslims are justified in taking pride in their science of tradition. In other ancient records, we have to take what is told on the author’s assertion: it is rare that a Greek or Roman historian tell us the source of his information…49 Even a staunch Orientalist like Bernard Lewis (d. 2018), who was a sharp critic of Islam and Muslims in modern times, acknowledged the strength of the Hadith tradition. The British- American historiographer wrote, But their careful scrutiny of the chains of transmission and their meticulous collection and preservation of variants in the transmitted narratives give to medieval Arabic historiography a professionalism and sophistication without precedent in antiquity and without parallel in the contemporary medieval West. By comparison, the historiography of Latin Christendom seems poor and meagre, and even the more advanced and complex historiography of Greek Christendom still falls short of the historical literature of Islam in volume, variety and analytical depth.50

以下各页将说明：即便只是简要概述穆罕默德ﷺ的品格，也不仅足以驳斥人们反复提出的指控——即他是冒充的先知，或是残暴的军阀——而且足以确立他关于自己是真主派往世界的最后一位先知这一主张的真实性。

The following pages will demonstrate how even a brief overview of Muhammad’s صلى الله عليه وسلم character not only refutes the oft-recycled charges leveled against him—being an imposter prophet or a ruthless warlord—but also establishes the truth of his claim that he was God’s final prophet to the world.