We would like you to answer and instruct us on the following narrations which show the difference among the…

We would like you to answer and instruct us on the following narrations which show the difference among the messenger, the prophet and the imam: It is narrated that Ismael ibn Mirar said that Al-Hassan ibn Abbas Al-Ma’rufi wrote to Imam Ridha (PBUH) asking him about the difference among the messenger, the prophet and the imam. The imam answered (the difference is that the messenger is the one whom the angel Gabriel descends to and he sees and listens to him, thus he gets revelation. In addition, he may have visions like Ibrahim (PBUH). The prophet may hear the speech, but does not see the angel) {Al-Kafi Vol.1: Al-Hujja book- chapter of the difference among the messenger, the prophet and the man of revelation- saying number 2. Allama Muhammad ibn Al-Hassan Al-Saffar narrated that Buraid Al-Ijly said: I asked Abu Abdillah (PBUH) about the messenger, the prophet and the man of revelation. He (PBUH) answered: the messenger is the one whom the angels come to, he can see them and they inform him about Allah (SWT), whereas the prophet sees visions about real things and the man of revelation is the one who hears the speech of angels through his ears and heart, but he does not see the angels. Yet, the messenger sees the angel and speaks to him. I asked: what is the position of the imam? He answered: he hears the voice, but does not see)) {the book of Basa’ir Al-Darajat- chapter of the difference among the prophets, messengers and imams. According to these narrations, the difference among them is that the messenger sees the angel and speaks to him and sometimes in his vision, while the prophet hears the angel’s voice, but does not see him most of the times and he may see in his vision, but the imam hears the angel, but does not see him at all. There is a query about the prophet Ibrahim (PBUH). He was a prophet and messenger then he became an imam. First, he was a prophet then he ascended one rank to be a messenger. Then, he became an imam which is lower in two levels. How come that he descended to a lower rank in two levels where he lost seeing the angels and having visions?