Tafseer of The Star · An-Najm · 53:14
At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary -
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.
His statement ʿinda sidrati l-muntahā ("at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary") — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and indeed, he saw him at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary. The word "at" (ʿinda) is connected to His statement "he saw him" (raʾāhu). And the sidra is the lote-tree (the tree of the nabq fruit).
It is called "sidrat al-muntahā" ("the lote-tree of the utmost boundary"), according to the statement of some scholars among the exegetes, because the knowledge of every knower ends at it.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Ḥafṣ ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Shimr, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās came to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār and said to him: "Tell me about the statement of Allah ʿinda sidrati l-muntahā * ʿindahā jannatu l-maʾwā ('at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, near which is the Garden of Refuge')." Kaʿb said: "Indeed, it is a lote-tree at the foot of the Throne. At it ends the knowledge of every knower, whether he be a near angel or a sent prophet. What lies beyond it is the unseen, which none knows except Allah."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Shimr ibn ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Yasāf, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās asked Kaʿb about the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, and I was present. Kaʿb said: "Indeed, it is a lote-tree above the heads of the bearers of the Throne. At it ends the knowledge of the creatures, and beyond it none has any knowledge. That is why it is called 'sidrat al-muntahā,' because knowledge ends at it."
Others said: it is called "sidrat al-muntahā" because everything that descends from above it and everything that ascends from below it of the commands of Allah ends at it.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: Sahl ibn ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Mālik related to us, on the authority of al-Zubayr, on the authority of ʿAdī, on the authority of Ṭalḥa al-Yāmī, on the authority of Murra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was taken on the night journey, he was brought up to the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, which is in the sixth heaven. At it ends what ascends from the earth or from below it, and it is received there; and at it ends what descends from above it, and it is received there.
Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-Marwazī related to me, saying: Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, who said: I said to al-Ḍaḥḥāk: "Why is it called 'sidrat al-muntahā'?" He said: "Because everything of the command of Allah ends at it and does not go beyond it."
Others said: it is called "sidrat al-muntahā" because everyone who followed the sunna and the way of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ends at it.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning ʿinda sidrati l-muntahā ("at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary"), who said: At it ends everyone who followed the sunna of Aḥmad ﷺ, and that is why it is called "the utmost boundary" (al-muntahā).
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū l-ʿĀliya al-Riyāḥī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, or another "Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī was uncertain about this," who said: When the Prophet ﷺ was taken on the night journey, he came up to the lote-tree, and it was said to him: "This lote-tree — at it ends everyone of your community who followed your sunna."
The correct position concerning this is that one says: the meaning of "al-muntahā" is the ending, as if it were said: "at the lote-tree of the ending." It is permissible that it was called "sidrat al-muntahā" because the knowledge of every knower among the creatures ends at it, as Kaʿb said. And it is permissible that it was so named because what ascends from below it and what descends from above it ends at it, as has been narrated from ʿAbd Allāh. And it is permissible that it was so named because every human being who passed by upon the sunna of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ends at it. And it is permissible that it was named so for all of these reasons. There is no report that removes all room for doubt by affirming that it was named so for part of these reasons and not for another part. No statement concerning this is more correct than the statement which our Lord, majestic is His majesty, made, namely that it is "sidrat al-muntahā" ("the lote-tree of the utmost boundary").
And concerning what we said, namely that it is the tree of the nabq fruit, the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ are successively (mutawātir) narrated, and thus also said the scholars.
* Mention of what exists concerning this of reports, and the statement of the scholars:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I came up to the lote-tree, and behold, its nabq fruits were like great jars, and its leaves were like the ears of elephants. And when something of the command of Allah covered it, that which covered it transformed it into ruby and emerald and the like."
Muḥammad 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 from his people, who said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "When I came up to the seventh heaven, I came to Ibrāhīm. I said: 'O Jibrīl, who is this?' He said: 'This is your father Ibrāhīm.' I greeted him, and he said: 'Welcome to the righteous son and the righteous prophet.'" He said: "Then the lote-tree of the utmost boundary was raised up for me." And the Prophet of Allah related that its nabq fruits were like the jars of Hajar, and that its leaves were like the ears of elephants.
And 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 ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, a man from his people, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with something similar.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Anas ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of Mālik ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said — and he mentioned something similar.
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn ʿAnbasa related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I mounted al-Burāq, and then I was brought to the lote-tree of the utmost boundary. Behold, its leaves were like the ears of elephants, and its fruits were like the jars. When something of the command of Allah covered it, that which covered it transformed it, such that none is able to describe its beauty. Then Allah revealed to me what He revealed."
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: Abū l-Naḍr related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīra related to us, on the authority of Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The angel carried me up." He said: "Then I came up to the lote-tree, and I recognized that it was a lote-tree, I recognized its leaves and its fruits." He said: "When something of the command of Allah covered it, that which covered it transformed it, until none was able to describe it."
Muḥammad ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, saying: Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the same, except that he said: "until I was not able to describe it."
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū l-ʿĀliya al-Riyāḥī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra or another "Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī was uncertain about this," who said: When the Prophet ﷺ was taken on the night journey, he came up to the lote-tree, and it was said to him: "This lote-tree — at it ends everyone of your community who followed your sunna." And behold, it was a tree from whose foot flow rivers of water that does not spoil, and rivers of milk whose taste does not change, and rivers of wine, a delight to the drinkers, and rivers of purified honey. And it is a tree in which the rider may travel seventy years in its shade without crossing it, and one leaf of it covers the entire community.
And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl al-Ḥaḍramī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-ʿUranī — I think on the authority of al-Hudhayl ibn Shuraḥbīl — on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning sidrati l-muntahā ("the lote-tree of the utmost boundary"), who said: From the midst of the Garden; upon it, or over it, lies the abundance of fine silk (sundus) and brocade (istabraq), or over it abundance has been laid.
And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us another time, on the authority of Mihrān, and he said: on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-ʿUranī, on the authority of al-Hudhayl, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd "and he did not doubt about it," and he added: he said "the midst of the Garden," that is, its center; and he also said: upon it lies the abundance of fine silk (sundus) and brocade (istabraq).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-ʿUranī, on the authority of al-Hudhayl ibn Shuraḥbīl, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, concerning His statement sidrati l-muntahā ("the lote-tree of the utmost boundary"), who said: the midst of the Garden; upon it lies the fine silk (sundus) and the brocade (istabraq).
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he mentioned the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, and he said: "In the shade of one of its branches a hundred riders may travel" — or he said: "In the shade of one of its branches a hundred riders may take shelter" "Yaḥyā was uncertain" "In it are golden butterflies, and its fruits are like jars."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, who said: The lote-tree is a tree in which the rider may travel a hundred years in its shade without crossing it, and indeed, one leaf of it covers the entire community.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement ʿinda sidrati l-muntahā ("at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary"): that the Prophet ﷺ said: "The lote-tree was raised up for me, its utmost boundary in the seventh heaven. Its nabq fruits are like the jars of Hajar, and its leaves are like the ears of elephants. From its trunk flow two visible rivers and two hidden rivers." He said: "I said to Jibrīl: 'What are these two rivers?'" — spirits? — He said: "As for the two hidden rivers, they are in the Garden, and as for the two visible rivers, they are the Nile and the Euphrates."
