I have been granted victory by means of awe (cast in the hearts of the enemies), I have been given the keys of the earth, I have been named Ahmad, the earth was made for me a means of purification, and my nation has been made the best of nations
Authentic hadithعن علي بن أبي طالب رضي الله عنه مرفوعاً: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "أُعطِيتُ ما لم يُعطَ أحدٌ من الأنبياءِ". فقلنا: يارسول الله، ما هو؟ قال: "نُصِرتُ بالرُّعبِ، وأُعطِيتُ مَفَاتِيحَ الأرضِ، وسُمِّيتُ أحمدَ، وجُعِلَ التُّرابُ لي طَهُوراً، وجُعِلَتْ أمَّتي خيرَ الأممِ".
‘Ali ibn Abi Tālib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I have been given what no other prophet was given." We said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is it?" He said: "I have been granted victory by means of awe (cast into the hearts of the enemies), I have been given the keys of the earth, I have been named Ahmad, the earth was made for me a means of purification, and my nation has been made the best of nations."
Explanation
The apparent meaning of his statement "I have been given what no other prophet before me was given", is that none of those things were given to anyone before him. "I have been granted victory by means of awe", meaning: my enemies fear me. It was an awe that struck the hearts of his enemies, extinguished their power, and caused their multitudes to disperse. His statement "I have been given the keys of the earth", means: the keys originally stands for anything that is used in extracting and finding access to far off things. His saying: "the earth", is a metaphor for Allah's promise to him to conquer the lands. He said: "I have been named Ahmad". In fact, no one before him was given that name, as a preventative measure from Allah, the Almighty, so the weak-hearted would not be affected by any doubt or illusion that he was the one given the name Ahmad in the previous scriptures. His saying: "The earth was made for me a means of purification", means: it is a purifying substance that can be used in the absence of water.
Source · Narrated by Ahmad
From the Hadith Encyclopedia (hadeethenc.com).