Salutations have been used with names of various individuals in the book. It is important to know what they mean to help in understanding the story. Salutations are recited out of respect when mentioning the names of Prophets and holy personages. These salutations have been abbreviated and inserted into the text where applicable.
Readers are urged to recite the full salutations for the following abbreviations:
sas—Sallallahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, meaning ‘may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,’ is written after the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas).
as—‘Alaihis-salaam, meaning ‘may peace be upon him,’ is written after the names of Prophets other than the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas).
ra—Raziyallahu ‘anhu/‘anhaa/‘anhum, meaning ‘may Allah be pleased with him/her/them,’ is written after the names of the Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) or of the Promised Messiah (as).
rta—Rahmatullah ‘alaihi/‘alaihaa/‘alaihim, meaning ‘may Allah shower His mercy upon him/her/them,’ is written after the names of those deceased pious Muslims who are not Companions of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (sas) or of the Promised Messiah (as).