Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:1
Exalted is He who took His Servant by night from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa, whose surroundings We have blessed, to show him of Our signs. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Seeing.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His exalted saying: ﴿Verheven is Hij die Zijn dienaar bij nacht deed reizen, van de Gewijde Moskee naar de Verste Moskee, waarvan Wij de omgeving hebben gezegend, opdat Wij hem enkele van Onze tekenen zouden tonen. Voorwaar, Hij is de Alhorende, de Alziende (1)﴾
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His exalted saying Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night a glorification of Him who made His servant travel by night, and a declaration that He is free of what the polytheists (mushrikīn) say about Him: that He would have a partner from among His creation, that He would have a consort and a child — and an elevation and glorification of Him above that which they ascribed to Him and that which they imputed to Him out of their ignorance and out of the error of their statements.
I have already explained earlier that His saying "subḥāna" is a noun placed in the position of the verbal noun (maṣdar), and thus stands in the accusative because it falls in its place, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it in this place. And some used to say: it stands in the accusative because it is not qualified. The Arabs use the word "tasbīḥ" (glorification) in various places. Among these is the ritual prayer (ṣalāh): many exegetes used to explain the saying of Allah Had he not been of those who glorify [Allah] thus: had he not been of those who perform the ritual prayer. And among these is the making of an exception (istithnāʾ): some used to explain the exalted saying of Allah Did I not say to you: if only you had glorified [Allah]? thus: if only you had made an exception. It was claimed that this is the language of some of the inhabitants of Yemen, and in support of the correctness of that explanation they cite His saying: When they swore that they would surely harvest that [garden] in the morning, and made no exception The most moderate of them said: Did I not say to you: if only you had glorified [Allah]? — by which he reminded them of their omission of the exception. And among these is light: some used to explain, in the tradition narrated about the Prophet ﷺ — "Were it not for that, the splendor of His countenance would burn everything that His gaze reaches" — that by his saying "the splendor of His countenance" he meant the light of His countenance.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the explanation of His saying Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that:
16613 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Mawhab, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Ṭalḥa, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he was asked about the glorification (tasbīḥ), which a person utters: "Glorified is Allah (subḥāna Allāh)." He said: "It is the declaring of Allah to be far removed from evil."
16614 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbda ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying "subḥāna Allāh": he said: it is a reverential awe before Allah that holds one back. And we have already mentioned earlier in this book of ours sufficient narrations concerning that.
"Al-isrāʾ" and "al-surā" mean: travelling by night. Whoever says "asrā" says: "yasrī isrāʾan"; and whoever says "sarā" says: "yasrī surā", as the poet said:
"And many a night full of darkness have I journeyed through, and no longing has held me back from its night-journey."
And it is also transmitted as: "full of dew have I journeyed through."
And by His saying by night (laylan) He means: a portion of the night. And thus Ḥudhayfa ibn al-Yamān used to recite it.
16615 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, while a man was relating to him a tradition about when the Prophet ﷺ was made to travel by night, and he said to him: do not bring me anyone like ʿĀṣim nor Zirr. He said: Ḥudhayfa recited: "Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, a portion of the night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque." And thus too ʿAbd Allāh recited.
As for His saying from the Sacred Mosque: concerning it and its meaning there has been disagreement. Some said: it means: from the Sacred Precinct (al-ḥaram), and they said: the entire Sacred Precinct is a mosque. And we have explained that in more than one place in this book of ours. And it was said: it has been transmitted to us that the Prophet ﷺ, on the night in which he was made to travel by night to the Farthest Mosque, was sleeping in the house of Umm Hāniʾ, the daughter of Abū Ṭālib.
Mention of who said that:
16616 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib related to me, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ ibn Bādhām, on the authority of Umm Hāniʾ, the daughter of Abū Ṭālib, concerning the night-journey of the Prophet ﷺ, that she used to say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was made to travel by night that night only while he was sleeping with me in my house. He performed the late evening prayer, then he slept and we slept. When it was shortly before dawn, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ woke us. When he performed the morning prayer and we prayed with him, he said: "O Umm Hāniʾ, I performed the late evening prayer with you in this valley, as you saw. Then I came to the Holy House (Jerusalem) and prayed in it. Then I have just now performed the morning prayer with you, as you see."
And others said: no, he was made to travel by night from the Mosque, and he was within it when he was made to travel by night.
Mention of who said that:
16617 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of Mālik ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa — and he is a man of his people — he said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "While I was at the House, between sleeping and waking, I suddenly heard someone saying: 'One of the three.' Then a basin of gold was brought to me in which was water of Zamzam, and my chest was opened up to such and such." Qatāda said: I said: what does he mean by that? He said: to the lowest part of his belly. He said: "Then my heart was taken out and washed with Zamzam water, and then put back in its place. Then it was filled with faith and wisdom. Then a white mount was brought to me" — and in another narration: "a white mount called al-Burāq, larger than the donkey and smaller than the mule; it set its stride as far as its gaze reached. I was placed upon it, and then we proceeded until we came to the Holy House (Jerusalem). I prayed in it as leader (imām) for the prophets and the messengers. Then I was taken up to the lowest heaven." ... And then he mentioned the tradition.
* — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of Mālik — that is, Ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, a man of his people — on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar.
* — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of Mālik ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, a man of his people, he said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said, and then he mentioned something similar.
16618 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Abī al-Ḥasan, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "While I was sleeping in the Ḥijr, Jibrīl came to me and nudged me with his foot. I sat up but saw nothing, and returned to my sleeping place. He came to me a second time and nudged me with his foot. I sat up but saw nothing, and returned to my sleeping place. He came to me a third time and nudged me with his foot. I sat up, and he took hold of my upper arm, and I stood up with him. He went out with me to the door of the Mosque, and there suddenly was a white mount, between the donkey and the mule, with two wings on its thighs by which it drove its legs forward. It set its foot as far as its gaze reached. He placed me upon it and then went along with me, neither could he outpace me nor could I outpace him."
16619 — Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Bilāl, on the authority of Sharīk ibn Abī Namir, he said: I heard Anas relating to us about the night of the night-journey of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from the Mosque of the Kaʿba: that three persons came to him before it was revealed to him, while he was sleeping in the Sacred Mosque. The first of them said: which of them is he? The middle one of them said: he is the best of them. One of them said: take the best of them. And that was that night. He did not see them again until they came another night, as far as his heart perceived — and the Prophet ﷺ, his eyes would sleep but his heart would not sleep; and so it is also with the prophets: their eyes sleep, but their hearts do not sleep. They did not speak to him until they lifted him up and laid him down by the well of Zamzam. From among them Jibrīl, peace be upon him, took him into his care and split open the area between his throat-pit and his breastbone, until he had finished with his chest and his interior. He washed it with Zamzam water until he had cleansed his interior. Then a basin of gold was brought in which was a vessel, filled with faith and wisdom, and with it he filled his interior, his chest, and the veins of his neck. Then he closed it, and then he mounted al-Burāq. He travelled until he brought him to the Holy House (Jerusalem). He prayed in it as leader for the prophets and the messengers. Then he was taken up to the lowest heaven, and he knocked on one of its doors. The inhabitants of the heaven called out to him: who is this? He said: this is Jibrīl. It was said: who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. It was said: has he then already been sent? He said: yes. They said: welcome then, and a blessing. The inhabitants of the heaven rejoiced over him. The inhabitants of the heaven do not know what Allah wills with the inhabitants of the earth, until He lets them know it. He found in the lowest heaven Ādam. Jibrīl said to him: this is your father, greet him. He greeted him, and he returned the greeting and said: welcome and a blessing, O my son. What an excellent son you are. Then he went on with him to the second heaven, and Jibrīl asked for one of its doors to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. It was said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. It was said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes, he has already been sent to him. It was said: welcome and a blessing. Then it was opened for them both. When he ascended into it, he suddenly came upon two rivers that flowed. He said: what are these two rivers, O Jibrīl? He said: these are the Nile and the Euphrates, their source. Then he was taken up to the third heaven, and Jibrīl asked for one of its doors to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. It was said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. It was said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes, he has already been sent to him. It was said: welcome and a blessing. Then it was opened for him, and there suddenly was a river above which were domes and palaces of pearl, chrysolite, and ruby, and others that none knows but Allah. He went to smell its earth, and it turned out to be fragrant musk. He said: O Jibrīl, what is this stream? He said: this is al-Kawthar, which your Lord has hidden for you in the Hereafter. Then he was taken up to the fourth, and they said to him the same. Then he was taken up to the fifth, and they said to him the same. Then he was taken up to the sixth, and they said to him the same. Then he was taken up to the seventh, and they said to him the same. In each heaven were prophets, whom Anas named, and I have remembered of them: Idrīs in the second, Hārūn in the fourth, and another in the fifth whose name I have not remembered, and Ibrāhīm in the sixth, and Mūsā in the seventh, on account of the distinction that Allah spoke to him directly. Mūsā said: Lord, I had not thought that anyone would be raised above me! Then He raised him above that, to a height that none knows but Allah, until he came to the Lote-tree of the utmost boundary (Sidrat al-Muntahā), and the door of the Almighty Compeller, the Lord of might, drew near. He inclined nearer and was at a distance of two bow-lengths or nearer. Then He revealed to His servant what He willed, and Allah revealed amid what He revealed fifty prayers for his community, every day and night. Then he descended until he came to Mūsā, and he held him back and said: O Muḥammad, what has your Lord imposed upon you? He said: "He has imposed upon me fifty prayers for my community, every day and night." He said: your community will not be able to bear that, so return, that it may be lightened for you and for them. Then he turned to Jibrīl, as if consulting him about it, and he indicated to him: yes. Then Jibrīl returned with him, until he came to the Almighty Compeller, mighty and exalted, while He was in His place. He said: "Lord, lighten it for us, for my community cannot bear this." Then He took ten prayers away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, peace be upon him, and he held him back. And Mūsā kept sending him back to his Lord, until it was reduced to five prayers. Then he held him back at the five and said: O Muḥammad, by Allah, I urged the Children of Israel to less than these five, and they were too weak and abandoned it. Your community is weaker in body, hearts, eyes, and ears, so return, that your Lord may lighten it for you. Each time he turned to Jibrīl so that he might advise him, and Jibrīl had no objection to that. But He held him at the five, and he said: "O Lord, my community is weak in body, hearts, ears, and eyes, so lighten it for us." The Almighty Compeller, exalted is His majesty, said: O Muḥammad. He said: "Here I am, at Your service." He said: verily, with Me the word is not changed, as I have prescribed it to you in the Mother of the Book. And for you, for every good deed there is tenfold of it: they are fifty in the Mother of the Book, and they are five for you. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: how did you fare? He said: "He lightened it for me; He gave us for every good deed tenfold of it." He said: by Allah, I urged the Children of Israel to less than this, and they abandoned it. So return, that it may be lightened for you also. He said: "O Mūsā, by Allah, I am ashamed before my Lord on account of how often I return to Him." He said: then descend in the name of Allah. Then he awoke, while he was in the Sacred Mosque.
And the soundest statement on this is that one say: Allah, mighty and exalted, has informed that He made His servant travel by night from the Sacred Mosque, and the Sacred Mosque is that which people mutually recognize as such when they mention it. And His saying to the Farthest Mosque means: the mosque of the Holy House (Jerusalem). It is called "the Farthest" because it is the farthest of the mosques that are visited, and visiting it, after the Sacred Mosque, ought to have the greatest merit. So the explanation of the saying is: a glorification of Allah and a declaration that He is free of what the polytheists have imputed to Him of partners, equals, and a consort, and of what is too exalted for Him, mighty is His majesty, who made His servant travel by night from His Sacred House to His Farthest House.
Then the scholars differed concerning the manner of Allah's, praised and exalted is He, making His Prophet ﷺ travel by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque. Some said: Allah made him travel by night with his body, and made him travel by night on al-Burāq from His Sacred House to His Farthest House until he arrived there. He showed him what He willed to show him of the wonders of His disposing, His lessons, and the greatness of His sovereignty. The prophets were gathered there for him, and he led them there in prayer. He was taken up to heaven until he ascended with him above the seven heavens, and He revealed to him there what He willed to reveal. Then he returned that same night to the Sacred Mosque and performed the morning prayer there.
Mention of who said that, and the mention of some traditions transmitted about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in confirmation of it:
16620 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus ibn Yazīd informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, he said: Ibn al-Musayyab and Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān informed me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was made to travel by night on al-Burāq — that is the mount of Ibrāhīm upon which he used to visit the Sacred House; its hoof set itself where its gaze reached. He said: a caravan of the caravans of Quraysh passed along one of those valleys, and the caravan was startled; in it was a camel with two saddlebags: a black one and a blue one. Until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to Īliyāʾ (Jerusalem), and two cups were brought to him: a cup of wine and a cup of milk. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the cup of milk. Jibrīl said to him: you have been guided to the original disposition (fiṭra); had you taken the cup of wine, your community would have gone astray. Ibn Shihāb said: Ibn al-Musayyab informed me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ met there Ibrāhīm and ʿĪsā. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ described them and said: "As for Mūsā, he is a sturdily built man with a long head, as though he were of the men of Shanūʾa. As for ʿĪsā, he is a man with a ruddy complexion, as though he had just come out of a bathhouse. The most resembling person I have seen to him is ʿUrwa ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī. And as for Ibrāhīm, of his descendants I am the most resembling to him." When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned, he told Quraysh that he had been made to travel by night. ʿAbd Allāh said: then many people apostatized after they had embraced Islam. Abū Salama said: people came to Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, and it was said to him: do you have anything to do with your companion? He claims that he was made to travel by night to the Holy House (Jerusalem) and then returned in one night. Abū Bakr said: did he say that? They said: yes. He said: then I bear witness: if he said that, then he has spoken the truth. They said: do you then bear witness that he came to Syria in a single night? He said: I believe him in something farther than that; I believe him in the report from heaven. Abū Salama said: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh saying: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying: "When Quraysh accused me of lying, I stood up, and Allah made the Holy House (Jerusalem) appear to me, and I began to inform them of its features while I was looking at it."
16621 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Zuhrī related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Hāshim ibn ʿUtba ibn Abī Waqqāṣ, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, he said: When Jibrīl, peace be upon him, came with al-Burāq to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, it was as though she swished with her tail, and Jibrīl said to her: be still, O Burāq, for by Allah, none more excellent than he has ridden you. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ travelled on, and there suddenly was an old woman who was at a distance from the road, that is, at the side of the road. Abū Jaʿfar said: it ought properly to read "nāʾiya" (feminine), but the feminine ending has dropped from it. He said: "What is this, O Jibrīl?" He said: travel on, O Muḥammad. Then he travelled on as long as Allah willed that he travel, and there suddenly was something that called to him, off to the side of the road, and said: come here, O Muḥammad. Jibrīl said: travel on, O Muḥammad. Then he travelled on as long as Allah willed that he travel. He said: then a host of the creatures met him, and one of them said: peace be upon you, O first, and peace be upon you, O last, and peace be upon you, O gatherer. Jibrīl said to him: return the greeting, O Muḥammad. He said: then he returned the greeting. Then the second met him, and he said to him the same as what the first ones said, until he arrived at the Holy House (Jerusalem). Water, milk, and wine were offered to him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took the milk. Jibrīl said to him: you have hit upon the right thing, O Muḥammad: the original disposition (fiṭra); had you drunk the water, you would have drowned and your community would have drowned, and had you drunk the wine, you would have gone astray and your community would have gone astray. Then Ādam and the prophets below him were raised for him, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ led them in prayer that night. Then Jibrīl said to him: as for the old woman whom you saw at the side of the road, there remains of the world no more than the measure of what remains of the life of that old woman. And as for that which wanted you to incline to it, that was the enemy of Allah, Iblīs, who wanted you to incline to him. And as for those who greeted you, they were Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā.
16622 — ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya al-Riyāḥī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra or another — Abū Jaʿfar was uncertain — concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing — he said: Jibrīl came to the Prophet ﷺ, and with him was Mīkāʾīl. Jibrīl said to Mīkāʾīl: bring me a basin of Zamzam water, that I may cleanse his heart and open his chest for him. He said: then he split open his belly and washed it three times, and Mīkāʾīl went back and forth with three basins of Zamzam water. He opened his chest, removed the rancor that was in it, and filled it with gentleness, knowledge, faith, certainty, and submission (islām), and sealed between his shoulder blades with the seal of prophethood. Then he brought him a horse, and at each step of it he was carried as far as his gaze and the limit of his sight reached. He said: then he travelled on, and Jibrīl, peace be upon him, travelled with him. He passed by a people who sowed in one day and harvested in one day; each time they harvested, it returned as it was. The Prophet ﷺ said: "O Jibrīl, what is this?" He said: these are those who strive in the way of Allah (al-mujāhidūn fī sabīl Allāh); for them the good deed is multiplied seven hundredfold, and whatever they spend, He replaces it, and He is the best of providers. Then he passed by a people whose heads were being crushed with the rock; each time they were crushed, they returned as they were, without anything of that being lightened for them. He said: "Who are these, O Jibrīl?" He said: these are those whose heads were too heavy for the obligatory prayer. Then he passed by a people who had patches on their fronts and patches on their backs, and who roamed about as camels and sheep roam about, and who ate thorn-bushes (ḍarīʿ), the zaqqūm-tree, and the burning stones and rocks of Hell (jahannam). He said: "Who are these, O Jibrīl?" He said: these are those who do not pay the alms-tax of their possessions, and Allah has not wronged them in anything, and Allah does no wrong to the servants. Then he passed by a people before whom lay cooked meat in cauldrons, and other meat, raw, filthy, and unclean; and they would eat of the raw and leave the cooked, good meat. He said: "Who are these, O Jibrīl?" He said: this is the man of your community who has a lawful, good wife, and then goes to an unclean woman and spends the night with her until morning; and the woman who rises from beside her lawful, good husband and goes to an unclean man and spends the night with him until morning. He said: then he passed by a beam on the road, by which no garment passed without it tearing it, and nothing without it rending it. He said: "What is this, O Jibrīl?" He said: this is the likeness of groups of your community who sit on the road and obstruct it. Then he recited: And sit not on every road, threatening and turning away (7:86) — the verse. Then he passed by a man who had gathered an enormous bundle of firewood that he could not carry, and yet he added to it. He said: "What is this, O Jibrīl?" He said: this is the man of your community who has the goods of people entrusted to him and is unable to return them, and yet he adds to them and wishes to carry them, but cannot. Then he passed by a people whose tongues and lips were being cut off with shears of iron; each time they were cut off, they returned as they were, without anything of that being lightened for them. He said: "Who are these, O Jibrīl?" He said: these are the orators of your community, the orators of sedition (fitna), who say what they do not do. Then he passed by a small hole out of which came a tremendous bull; the bull wanted to return to where it had come from, but could not. He said: "What is this, O Jibrīl?" He said: this is the man who utters the tremendous word and then regrets it, but cannot take it back. Then he passed by a valley, and he found a good, cool wind, and in it was the scent of musk, and he heard a voice. He said: "O Jibrīl, what is this good, cool wind and this scent that is like the scent of musk, and what is this voice?" He said: this is the voice of Paradise (janna), which says: O Lord, bring me what You have promised me, for my chambers, my brocade, my silk, my fine satin, and my luxurious carpets have become many, and my pearls and my corals, my silver and my gold, my cups, my dishes, and my pitchers, my fruits, my date-palms and my pomegranates, my milk and my wine; so bring me what You have promised me. He said: for you is every Muslim man and Muslim woman, every believing man and believing woman, and everyone who believes in Me and in My messengers, performs a good deed, ascribes no partners to Me, and takes no equals beside Me; and whoever fears Me, he is safe; and whoever asks of Me, I give him; and whoever lends to Me, I reward him; and whoever relies upon Me, I suffice him. I am Allah, there is no god but I, I do not break the promise, and the believers are indeed successful, and blessed is Allah, the best of creators. It said: I am content. Then he passed by a valley, and he heard a hideous voice and found a stinking wind. He said: "What is this wind, O Jibrīl, and what is this voice?" He said: this is the voice of Hell (jahannam), which says: O Lord, bring me what You have promised me, for my chains and my fetters, my blazing fire and my flames, my thorn-bushes (ḍarīʿ) and my festering pus, my torment (ʿadhāb) and my retribution have become many, and my bottom is deepened and my heat intensified; so bring me what You have promised me. He said: for you is every polytheist man and polytheist woman, every disbelieving man and disbelieving woman, and every unclean man and unclean woman, and every tyrant who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning. It said: I am content. He said: then he travelled on until he came to the Holy House (Jerusalem), and he dismounted and tied his horse to a rock. Then he entered and prayed together with the angels. When the prayer was completed, they said: O Jibrīl, who is this with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. He said: then he met the souls of the prophets, and they praised their Lord. Ibrāhīm said: praise be to Allah, who has taken me as an intimate friend (khalīl) and has given me a tremendous kingdom, and has made me an exemplary community devoted to Allah that is followed, and has saved me from the Fire and made it cool and safe for me. Then Mūsā praised his Lord and said: praise be to Allah, who spoke to me directly, and brought about the destruction of the people of Pharaoh and the rescue of the Children of Israel by my hand, and made of my community a people who guide by the truth and act justly by it. Then Dāwūd, peace be upon him, praised his Lord and said: praise be to Allah, who has given me a tremendous kingdom and has taught me the Zabūr, and has softened iron for me, and has subjected the mountains to me so that they glorify, and the birds, and has given me wisdom and decisive speech. Then Sulaymān praised his Lord and said: praise be to Allah, who has subjected the winds to me, and has subjected the devils to me, who do for me whatever I will of prayer-niches, statues, basins as large as water-troughs, and firmly anchored cauldrons, and has taught me the language of the birds, and has given me of all things an abundance, and has subjected to me the armies of devils, men, and birds, and has favored me above many of His believing servants, and has given me a tremendous kingdom that befits no one after me, and has made my kingdom a good kingdom for which I need render no account. Then ʿĪsā, peace be upon him, praised his Lord and said: praise be to Allah, who has made me His word and has made my likeness as the likeness of Ādam, whom He created from earth and then said to him: "Be" and he was; and has taught me the Book, wisdom, the Torah, and the Gospel, and has made me fashion from clay the form of a bird, into which I then breathe so that it becomes a bird by the permission of Allah; and has made me heal the one born blind and the leper, and bring the dead to life by the permission of Allah; and has raised me and purified me, and has granted me and my mother protection from the accursed devil, so that the devil had no power over us. He said: then Muḥammad ﷺ praised his Lord and said: "All of you have praised your Lord, and I praise my Lord." He said: "Praise be to Allah, who has sent me as a mercy to the worlds, and to all of mankind as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner, and who has sent down upon me the Criterion (al-Furqān) in which is the exposition of all things, and has made my community the best community brought forth for mankind, and has made my community a moderate community, and has made my community the first and the last, and has opened my chest for me, and has removed my burden from me, and has raised my renown for me, and has made me an opener and a sealer." Ibrāhīm said: with this Muḥammad has surpassed you. — Abū Jaʿfar, that is al-Rāzī, said: he is the seal of prophethood, and the opener with the intercession (shafāʿa) on the Day of Resurrection. — Then three vessels were brought to him whose openings were covered. One of them, in which was water, was brought to him, and it was said: drink. He drank a little of it. Then another vessel was offered to him, in which was milk, and it was said to him: drink. He drank of it until he was satisfied. Then another vessel was offered to him, in which was wine, and it was said to him: drink. He said: "I do not want it, I am already satisfied." Jibrīl ﷺ said to him: verily, this will be forbidden to your community, and had you drunk of it, only a small number of your community would follow you. Then he was taken up to the lowest heaven, and Jibrīl asked for one of its doors to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. It was said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. Then he entered, and there suddenly was a man, perfect of form, lacking nothing of his form as the form of humans is lacking. At his right hand was a door from which came a good scent, and at his left hand a door from which came an unclean scent. When he looked at the door at his right hand, he laughed and rejoiced, and when he looked at the door at his left hand, he wept and grew sad. I said: "O Jibrīl, who is this old man, perfect of form, lacking nothing of his form, and what are these two doors?" He said: this is your father Ādam, and this door at his right hand is the door of Paradise: when he looks at which of his descendants enters it, he laughs and rejoices; and the door at his left hand is the door of Hell (jahannam): when he looks at which of his descendants enters it, he weeps and grows sad. Then Jibrīl ﷺ took him up to the second heaven and asked for it to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. It was said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. He said: and there suddenly were two young men. He said: "O Jibrīl, who are these two young men?" He said: these are ʿĪsā, the son of Maryam, and Yaḥyā, the son of Zakariyyāʾ, the sons of the maternal aunt. He said: then he took him up to the third heaven and asked for it to be opened. They said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. They said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. He said: then he entered, and there suddenly was a man who had been favored above all people in beauty, as the moon on the night of the full moon is favored above the rest of the stars. He said: "Who is this, O Jibrīl, who has been favored above people in beauty?" He said: this is your brother Yūsuf. Then he took him up to the fourth heaven and asked for it to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. They said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. He said: then he entered, and there suddenly was a man. He said: "Who is this, O Jibrīl?" He said: this is Idrīs, whom Allah has raised to a high place. Then he took him up to the fifth heaven, and Jibrīl asked for it to be opened. They said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. They said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. Then he entered, and there suddenly was a man who was seated, around whom was a people to whom he was relating. He said: "Who is this, O Jibrīl, and who are these who are around him?" He said: this is Hārūn, who was beloved among his people, and these are the Children of Israel. Then he took him up to the sixth heaven, and Jibrīl asked for it to be opened. It was said to him: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. They said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. And there suddenly was a man who was seated, and he passed him by, and the man wept. He said: "O Jibrīl, who is this?" He said: Mūsā. He said: "Why does he weep?" He said: the Children of Israel claim that I am the most honored of the children of Ādam before Allah, and this is a man of the children of Ādam who has come into the world after me, while I was in an earlier time; and if he were alone, I would not care about it, but with every prophet is his community. Then he took him up to the seventh heaven, and Jibrīl asked for it to be opened. It was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. They said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. They said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. They said: may Allah greet him as a brother and as a successor; what an excellent brother and what an excellent successor, and what an excellent coming he has come. He said: then he entered, and there suddenly was a graying man who was seated by the door of Paradise on a seat, and beside him sat a people with white faces, as though they were sheets of paper, and a people in whose colors there was something. Then those in whose colors there was something stood up, and they entered a river and bathed in it, and came out while something of their colors had been purified. Then they entered another river and bathed in it, and came out while something of their colors had been purified. Then they entered another river and bathed in it, and came out while something of their colors had been purified, so that they became like the colors of their companions. Then they came and sat down beside their companions. He said: "O Jibrīl, who is this graying man, and who are these with the white faces, and who are these in whose colors there was something, and what are these rivers which they entered and from which they came out while their colors had been purified?" He said: this is your father Ibrāhīm, the first to turn gray on earth. As for these with the white faces: they are people who did not mix their faith with wrongdoing. And as for these in whose colors there was something: they are people who mixed a good deed and another, evil deed, and then showed repentance, and Allah accepted their repentance. And as for the rivers: the first of them is the mercy of Allah, the second of them is the grace of Allah, and the third: their Lord gave them to drink a pure drink. He said: then he came to the Lote-tree (al-Sidra), and it was said to him: this is the Lote-tree; at it ends everyone of your community who has followed your way (sunna). And there suddenly was a tree, from whose root flowed forth rivers of water whose taste does not spoil, and rivers of milk whose taste does not change, and rivers of wine, a delight for the drinkers, and rivers of purified honey. And it is a tree in whose shade the rider travels for seventy years without crossing it, and one leaf of it covers the entire community. He said: then the light of the Creator, mighty and exalted, overspread it, and the angels overspread it like crows when they alight upon a tree. He said: then He spoke to him at that moment and said to him: ask. He said: "You took Ibrāhīm as an intimate friend and gave him a tremendous kingdom, and You spoke to Mūsā directly, and You gave Dāwūd a tremendous kingdom and softened iron for him and subjected the mountains to him, and You gave Sulaymān a tremendous kingdom and subjected the jinn, mankind, and the devils to him and subjected the winds to him, and gave him a kingdom that befits no one after him, and You taught ʿĪsā the Torah and the Gospel and made him heal the one born blind and the leper and bring the dead to life by the permission of Allah, and granted him and his mother protection from the accursed devil, so that the devil had no power over them both." Then his Lord said to him: I have taken you as a beloved (ḥabīb) and an intimate friend, and it is written in the Torah: the beloved of Allah; and I have sent you to all of mankind as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner, and I have opened your chest for you, and removed your burden from you, and raised your renown for you, so that I am not mentioned without you being mentioned with Me; and I have made your community a moderate community, and I have made your community the first and the last, and I have made it so that no oration is permissible for your community, until they bear witness that you are My servant and My messenger; and I have made from your community people whose hearts are their gospels; and I have made you the first of the prophets in creation, and the last of them in being sent, and the first of them concerning whom judgment will be passed; and I have given you the seven oft-repeated verses (al-mathānī), which I gave to no prophet before you; and I have given you al-Kawthar; and I have given you eight portions: Islam, the emigration (hijra), the jihād, the alms (ṣadaqa), the prayer, the fasting of Ramaḍān, the enjoining of the proper and the forbidding of the reprehensible; and I have made you an opener and a sealer. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "My Lord has favored me with six things: He has given me the openings of words and their conclusions, and the concise, comprehensive utterances; and He has sent me to all of mankind as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner; and He has cast terror into the hearts of my enemy from a distance of a month's journey; and the spoils of war (ghanāʾim) have been made lawful to me while they were made lawful to no one before me; and He has made for me the whole earth a means of purification and a place of prayer." He said: and He imposed upon me fifty prayers. When he came back to Mūsā, he said: to what have you been commanded, O Muḥammad? He said: "To fifty prayers." He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: then the Prophet ﷺ returned to his Lord and asked Him for a lightening, and He took ten away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: to how many have you been commanded? He said: "To forty." He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: then he returned to his Lord and asked Him for a lightening, and He took ten away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: to how many have you been commanded? He said: "I have been commanded to thirty." Then Mūsā said to him: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: then he returned to his Lord and asked Him for a lightening, and He took ten away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: to how many have you been commanded? He said: "To twenty." He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: then he returned to his Lord and asked Him for a lightening, and He took ten away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: to how many have you been commanded? He said: "To ten." He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: then he returned, ashamed, to his Lord and asked Him for a lightening, and He took five away from him. Then he returned to Mūsā, and he said: to how many have you been commanded? He said: "To five." He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community is the weakest of communities, and I have experienced hardness from the Children of Israel. He said: "I have already returned to my Lord so often that I have become ashamed, so I will not return to Him again." Then it was said to him: verily, just as you have endured patiently with yourself to five prayers, so they count for you as fifty prayers, for every good deed counts for tenfold of it. He said: then Muḥammad ﷺ was fully content. And Mūsā was the sternest of them toward him when he passed by him, and the most well-disposed toward him when he returned to him.
* — Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh related to me, saying: Abū al-Naḍr Hāshim ibn al-Qāsim informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya or another — Abū Jaʿfar was uncertain — on the authority of Abū Hurayra, concerning His saying: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night ... up to His saying: Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing — he said: Jibrīl came to the Prophet ﷺ, and then he mentioned something similar to the narration of ʿAlī ibn Sahl, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, except that he said: Jibrīl came, and with him was Mīkāʾīl; and he said in it: and there suddenly was a people who roamed about as cattle roam about, and they ate thorn-bushes (ḍarīʿ) and the zaqqūm-tree; and he said in every place where ʿAlī said "what are these": "who are these, O Jibrīl"; and he said in a place where it was "their tongues are cut off": "their tongues are clipped (taquṣṣu)"; and he also said, in a place where ʿAlī had said: "and what an excellent successor". At the mention of the wine he said: "I do not want it, I am already satisfied." Jibrīl said: you have hit upon the original disposition (fiṭra), O Muḥammad, verily, it will be forbidden to your community. And he also said concerning the Lote-tree of the utmost boundary: this is the Lote-tree of the utmost boundary; at it ends everyone who has gone upon your way from your community. And he also said concerning one leaf of it: "it overshadows the whole creation, the angels overspread it like crows when they alight upon a tree, out of love for Allah, mighty and exalted." And the rest of the narration is as the narration of ʿAlī.
16623 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abū Hārūn al-ʿAbdī, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī; and al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, saying: Abū Hārūn al-ʿAbdī informed us, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī — and the wording is that of the narration of al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā — concerning His saying: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque — he said: The Prophet ﷺ told us about the night in which he was made to travel by night, and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "A mount was brought to me that most resembled the mule among mounts; it had two moving ears, and it is al-Burāq, and it is that which the prophets before me used to ride. I rode it, and it set off with me, setting its foot as far as its gaze reached. Then I heard a call on my right side: O Muḥammad, take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to him. Then I heard a call on my left side: O Muḥammad, take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to him. Then a woman came toward me on the road, and I saw upon her every adornment of the adornments of the world, while she raised her hand and said: O Muḥammad, take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to her. Then I came to the Holy House (Jerusalem) — or he said: the Farthest Mosque. I dismounted from the mount and tied it to the ring to which the prophets used to tie it. Then I entered the Mosque and prayed in it. Then Jibrīl said to him: what did you see on your way? I said: I heard a call on my right side: O Muḥammad, take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to him. He said: that was the caller of the Jews; verily, had you stopped by him, your community would have gone over to Judaism. He said: then I heard a call on my left side: O Muḥammad, take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to him. He said: that was the caller of the Christians; verily, had you stopped by him, your community would have gone over to Christianity. I said: then a woman came toward me with upon her every adornment of the adornments of the world, while she raised her hand and said: take it easy, I want to ask you something. But I went on and did not turn to her. He said: that was the world that had adorned itself for you; verily, had you stopped by her, your community would have preferred the world over the Hereafter. Then two vessels were brought to me, in one was milk and in the other was wine, and it was said to me: drink whichever you wish. I took the milk and drank it. He said: you have hit upon the original disposition (fiṭra)" — or he said: "you have taken the fiṭra." Maʿmar said: and al-Zuhrī informed me, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, that it was said to him: verily, had you taken the wine, your community would have gone astray. Abū Hārūn said in the narration of Abū Saʿīd: "Then the ascent-ladder (al-miʿrāj) was brought, by which the souls of the children of Ādam ascend, and behold, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Have you not seen how the dying man sharpens his gaze upon it? Then we were taken up along it until we came to the door of the lowest heaven. Jibrīl asked for it to be opened, and it was said: who is this? He said: Jibrīl. It was said: and who is with you? He said: Muḥammad. It was said: has he then already been sent to him? He said: yes. Then they opened and greeted me. And there suddenly was an angel charged with guarding the heaven, named Ismāʿīl, and with him were seventy thousand angels, and with each angel of them were a hundred thousand." Then he recited: And none knows the armies of your Lord but He (74:31). "And there I suddenly was with a man in the form as on the day Allah created him, in whom nothing had been changed; and there the souls of his descendants were being presented to him. If it was the soul of a believer, he said: a good soul and a good scent, place his book in the ʿIllīyūn. And if it was the soul of a disbeliever, he said: an unclean soul and an unclean scent, place his book in the Sijjīn. Then I said: O Jibrīl, who is this? He said: your father Ādam. He greeted me, welcomed me, prayed for me for good, and said: welcome to the truthful prophet and the truthful child. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with a people who had lips like the lips of camels, and there was someone charged with them who would grasp their lips and then place in their mouths stones of fire that came out from their lower parts. I said: O Jibrīl, who are these? He said: these are those who unjustly devour the wealth of orphans. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with a people from whose skin was being cut and stuffed back into their mouths, and then it was said: eat as you ate. And that was for them the most hateful of what Allah has created. I said: who are these, O Jibrīl? He said: these are the gossipers and slanderers, who eat the flesh of people and attack their honor with calumny. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with a people at a table on which was roasted meat, the finest meat I had ever seen, and around it were carcasses; and they would incline toward the carcasses and eat of them, and leave that meat. I said: who are these, O Jibrīl? He said: these are the adulterers (al-zunāt), who turned to what Allah had forbidden them and left what Allah had made lawful to them. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with a people who had bellies like houses, and they were on the thoroughfare of the people of Pharaoh; and when the people of Pharaoh passed by them, they would rush up, and the belly of one of them would lean over so that he fell, and the people of Pharaoh would trample them with their feet, while they are presented to the Fire morning and evening. I said: who are these, O Jibrīl? He said: these are the devourers of usury (ribā); the usury is in their bellies, and their likeness is as the likeness of the one whom the devil has possessed by touch. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with women who were hung by their breasts, and women who hung upside down by their feet. I said: who are these, O Jibrīl? He said: these are the women who commit fornication (zinā) and kill their children. He said: then we ascended to the second heaven, and there I suddenly was with Yūsuf, around whom was a retinue of his community, and his face was like the moon on the night of the full moon. He greeted me and welcomed me. Then we went on to the third heaven, and there I suddenly was with the two sons of the maternal aunt, Yaḥyā and ʿĪsā; the one resembled the other, in their clothing and in their hair. They greeted me and welcomed me. Then we went on to the fourth heaven, and there I suddenly was with Idrīs. He greeted me and welcomed me, and Allah has said: And We raised him to a high place. Then we went on to the fifth heaven, and there I suddenly was with Hārūn, who was beloved among his people, around whom was a great retinue of his community" — and the Prophet ﷺ described him: "long of beard, his beard nearly reached his navel. He greeted me and welcomed me. Then we went on to the sixth heaven, and there I suddenly was with Mūsā ibn ʿImrān" — and the Prophet ﷺ described him and said: "richly haired; if he were to wear two shirts, his hair would come through them. Mūsā said: people claim that I am the most honored of creation before Allah, but this one is more honored before Allah than I; and if he were alone, I would not care about it, but with every prophet is whoever follows him from his community. Then we went on to the seventh heaven, and there I suddenly was with Ibrāhīm, while he was seated with his back leaning against the Much-Frequented House (al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr). He greeted me and said: welcome to the truthful prophet and the truthful child. It was said: this is your place and the place of your community. Then he recited: Verily, the people most worthy of Ibrāhīm are surely those who followed him, and this Prophet and those who believe; and Allah is the Protector of the believers. Then I entered the Much-Frequented House and prayed in it; and there enter it every day seventy thousand angels who never return to it again until the Day of Resurrection. Then I looked, and there I suddenly was with a tree of which one leaf would cover this entire community, and behold, at its root was a spring that flowed and had branched into two arms. I said: what is this, O Jibrīl? He said: as for this: that is the river of mercy; and as for this: that is al-Kawthar, which Allah has given you. Then I bathed in the river of mercy, and there was forgiven me what had passed of my sin and what was yet to come. Then I took my way along al-Kawthar until I entered Paradise, and in it was what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has not occurred to any human heart; and in it were pomegranates like the hides of saddled camels, and in it were birds like the Bukht camels." Abū Bakr said: verily, those birds are tender. He said: "Those who eat of them are more tender still than they, O Abū Bakr, and I surely hope that you will eat of them. And I saw in it a young woman, and I asked her: whose are you? She said: of Zayd ibn Ḥāritha." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave Zayd the glad tidings of that. He said: "Then Allah commanded me His command and imposed upon me fifty prayers. Then I passed by Mūsā, and he said: to what has your Lord commanded you? I said: He has imposed upon me fifty prayers. He said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening, for your community will not be able to sustain this. Then I returned to my Lord and asked Him, and He took ten away from me. Then I returned to Mūsā, and I kept returning to my Lord each time I passed by Mūsā, until He imposed upon me five prayers. Then Mūsā said: return to your Lord and ask Him for a lightening. I said: I have already returned to my Lord so often that I have become ashamed" — or he said: "I said: I will not return again. Then it was said to me: verily, for you these five prayers count as fifty prayers, the good deed counts for tenfold of it; and whoever intends a good deed but does not perform it, for him a good deed is written; and whoever performs it, for him ten are written; and whoever intends an evil deed but does not perform it, for him nothing is written; and if he performs it, one is written."
* — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, he said: Rawḥ ibn al-Qāsim related to me, on the authority of Abū Hārūn ʿUmāra ibn Juwayn al-ʿAbdī, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī; and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: and Abū Jaʿfar related to me, on the authority of Abū Hārūn, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd, he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ saying: "When I had finished with what was in the Holy House (Jerusalem), the ascent-ladder (al-miʿrāj) was brought, and I have never seen anything more beautiful than that; and it is that toward which your dying one stretches his gaze when death approaches. My companion took me up along it until he came to one of the doors, called the Door of the Guardians, above which was an angel, named Ismāʿīl, under whose command stood twelve thousand angels, and under the command of each of those angels stood twelve thousand angels." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, when he related this tradition: "None knows the armies of your Lord but He." Then he mentioned something similar to the narration of Maʿmar, on the authority of Abū Hārūn, except that he said in his narration: "Then he entered Paradise with me, and I saw in it a young woman, and I asked her: whose are you? — and she pleased me when I saw her — and she said: of Zayd ibn Ḥāritha." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave Zayd ibn Ḥāritha the glad tidings of that. And with that the narration of Ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Salama, ended up to here.
* — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ described to his companions, on the night in which he was made to travel by night, Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and ʿĪsā, and said: "As for Ibrāhīm, I have seen no man who resembles your companion more than he. As for Mūsā, he is a man with a dark-brown complexion, tall, with curly hair and an aquiline nose, as though he were of the men of Shanūʾa. And as for ʿĪsā, he is a man with a ruddy complexion, between short and tall, with lank hair and a face full of moles, as though he had come out of a bathhouse, as if his head were dripping water though there was no water on it. The most resembling person I have seen to him is ʿUrwa ibn Masʿūd."
* — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, something similar; but he did not say "on the authority of Abū Hurayra".
16624 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, that on the night in which the Prophet ﷺ was made to travel by night, al-Burāq was brought to him, saddled and bridled, for him to ride; but it resisted him. Then Jibrīl said to it: what brings you to this? By Allah, no one has ridden you who is more honored before Allah than he! He said: then it broke out in sweat.
16625 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed — the Prophet of Allah was made to travel by night in the evening from Mecca to the Holy House (Jerusalem), and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ prayed in it, and Allah showed him some of His signs and commanded him what He willed on the night in which he was made to travel by night, and then in the morning he was in Mecca. It has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "I was carried on a mount called al-Burāq, larger than the donkey and smaller than the mule; it set its hoof where its gaze reached." And the Prophet of Allah told that to the inhabitants of Mecca, but the polytheists declared it a lie, rejected it, and said: O Muḥammad, you inform us that you came to the Holy House (Jerusalem) and returned in your night, and then in the morning were with us in Mecca — while you never before this day came to us with it nor arrived with it! But Abū Bakr believed him, and for that reason Abū Bakr was called "al-Ṣiddīq" (the Truthful).
16626 — Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Shaybānī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Shaddād, he said: When it was the night in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was made to travel by night, a mount was brought to him called al-Burāq, smaller than the mule and larger than the donkey; it set its hoof where its gaze reached. When he came to the Holy House (Jerusalem), two vessels were brought to him: a vessel with milk and a vessel with wine, and he drank the milk. He said: then Jibrīl said to him: you have been guided and your community has been guided.
And others among them said: the Prophet ﷺ was made to travel by night to the Farthest Mosque in his own person and with his body — he was, peace be upon him, made to travel by night — except that he did not enter the Holy House (Jerusalem), did not pray in it, and did not dismount from al-Burāq until he returned to Mecca.
Mention of who said that:
16627 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdala related to me, on the authority of Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa ibn al-Yamān, that he said concerning this verse: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque — he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did not pray there, and had he prayed in it, prayer in it would have been prescribed for you, just as prayer at the Kaʿba is prescribed for you.
* — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh, while a man was relating to him a tradition about when the Prophet ﷺ was made to travel by night, and he said to him: do not bring me anyone like ʿĀṣim nor Zirr. He said: Ḥudhayfa said it to Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh. He said: and Zirr was a man of distinction, of the distinguished ones of the Arabs. He said: Ḥudhayfa recited: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, a portion of the night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing — and thus too ʿAbd Allāh recited. He said: and this is as they say: that he entered the Mosque and prayed in it, and then entered and tied his mount. He said: I said: by Allah, he did enter it. He said: who are you? For I recognize your face, but I do not know what your name is. He said: I said: Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh. He said: what is this, this method of yours? He said: I said: from the Qurʾān. He said: whoever holds fast to the Qurʾān succeeds. He said: then I said: Glorified is He who made His servant travel by night, from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed. He said: then he looked at me and said: O bald one, do you then hold that he entered it? He said: I said: no, by Allah. Ḥudhayfa said: indeed, by Allah, besides whom there is no god, he did not enter it, and had he entered it, prayer in it would have been obligatory for you. No, by Allah, he did not dismount from al-Burāq until he saw Paradise and the Fire, and all that Allah has prepared in the Hereafter. And he said: do you know what al-Burāq is? It is a mount smaller than the mule and larger than the donkey; its stride reaches as far as the gaze.
And others said: no, he was made to travel by night with his soul, and not with his body.
Mention of who said that:
16628 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, he said: Yaʿqūb ibn ʿUtba ibn al-Mughīra ibn al-Akhnas related to me that Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān, when he was asked about the night-journey of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, used to say: it was a truthful vision from Allah.
16629 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, he said: one of the family of Abū Bakr related to me that ʿĀʾisha used to say: the body of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was not missed, but Allah made his soul travel by night.
16630 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, Ibn Isḥāq said: and al-Ḥasan did not deny that, namely her saying, that this verse was sent down: And We made the vision that We showed you only a trial for the people (17:60), and on account of the saying of Allah in the report about Ibrāhīm, when he said to his son: O my son, I see in the dream that I am sacrificing you; so look, what do you think? (37:102), and he then proceeded to that. Thus I have understood that the revelation comes to the prophets of Allah while they are awake and while they are asleep. And the Messenger ﷺ used to say: "My eye sleeps, while my heart is awake." Allah knows best which of those states it was in which it came to him and in which he beheld of Allah's disposing what he beheld; in whichever of his states it was, asleep or awake, all of that is true and genuine.
And the correct view on this, according to us, is that one say: Allah made His servant Muḥammad ﷺ travel by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, as Allah has informed His servants, and as the reports about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ have mutually corroborated, that Allah made him be carried on al-Burāq when He brought it to him, and that he led in prayer there those of the prophets and the messengers who prayed, and that He showed him what He showed him of the signs. And the statement of the one who says: he was made to travel by night with his soul and not with his body, has no meaning, for if that had been so, then there would be nothing in it that necessitates it being a proof of his prophethood, nor an argument for his messengership; and then those who denied the reality of it, namely the people of polytheism, would not have existed — whereas they used it to refute his truthfulness in it — since it would not have been objectionable in their view, nor in the view of anyone of sound original disposition among the children of Ādam, that a seer among them should see in a dream that which is at a distance of a year's journey — so how much more so that which is at a distance of a month or less? And moreover, verily Allah
