Nahj al-Balāgha
Hadith 24لَمْ يُخْلِ اللهُ سُبْحَانَهُ خَلْقَهُ مِنْ نَبِيٍّ مُرْسَل، أَوْ كِتَاب مُنْزَل، أَوْ حُجَّة لاَزِمَة، أَوْ مَحَجَّة قَائِمَة، رُسُلٌ لا تُقَصِّرُ بِهِمْ قِلَّةُ عَدَدِهِمْ، وَلاَ كَثْرَةُ المُكَذِّبِينَ لَهُمْ: مِنْ سَابِق سُمِّيَ لَهُ مَنْ بَعْدَهُ، أَوْ غَابِر عَرَّفَهُ مَنْ قَبْلَهُ.
Allāh never allowed His creation to remain without a Prophet deputised by Him, or a book sent down from Him or a binding argument or a standing plea. These Messengers were such that they did not feel little because of smallness of their number or of largeness of the number of their falsifiers. Among them was either a predecessor who would name the one to follow or the follower who had been introduced by the predecessor.