The origin of the word Nabi is "N B W" which means the one who is distinguished.

It means that NABI is a person who is distinguished from other people because He the one who receives revelation from God. Nabuww'at, in Quranic terms, means to get revelation from God.

A NABI does not keep this NABUWWAT to himself but He is ordered by God to go to the people and convey this message of NABUWWAT to them. This duty of the NABI is termed by Qur'aan as RISALAT. From this very perspective THE NABI AND THE RASUL are two dimensions of the same person and the two sides of the same coin. Qur aan has used the twp terms interchangeably for a single person. For example, at some places Muhammad Pbuh is referred to as RASUL (48:29) and at others He is called as NABI (8:64). Here we must keep our focus on (4:163-165). This verse clearly tells us that all the mentioned persons were RASULS. The same are called NABIYEEN in the same verse. In (6:84-90) God says that He provided KITAB HAKAM and NABUWWAT to all the mentioned personalities. Both of the above instances are sufficnet to prove that a single person was the NABI as well as RASUL who had gotten the NABUWWAT AND RISALAT as two dimensions of one phenomena. It is impossible as per Qur aan that a person is a NABI but not a RASUL or He is a RAUL but not a NABI. There is an understanding among people that NABI and RASUL are two different offices may or may not be mutually exclusive. The proponent of the view present (22:52) as an ultimate proof of this claim. But a close look at 22:52 suggests a different story. The verse (22:52) uses LAA between two terms NABI and RASUL. The existence of this LAA makes people think that the two terms can not be the two different dimensions of the same person. Interstingly Qur aan itself solves this issue in a clear cut manner. Reading 22:52 with 5:19 tells us that BASHIR WALA NAZEER AND RASUL WALA ABI both can be taken as two different dimensions of the same person. The LAA used in both verses is used for addition and therefore can not be taken as two different persons.