Tafseer of The Overthrowing · At-Takwir · 81:23
And he has already seen Gabriel in the clear horizon.
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.
And His saying: وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("And indeed, he saw him on the clear horizon") (81:23). Allah, exalted is His mention, says: and indeed he — that is, Muḥammad — saw Gabriel (peace be upon him) in his true form on the side that makes things clear, so that from there one can see, and that is the side of the place where the sun rises, from the east.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning his saying: بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("on the clear horizon"): the highest. He said: at the horizon from the direction of "Ajyād".
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("on the clear horizon"), he said: it was related to us that the horizon is the place where the sun rises.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("And indeed, he saw him on the clear horizon"): it was related to us that it is the horizon from which the day comes.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his saying: وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("And indeed, he saw him on the clear horizon"), he said: he saw Gabriel on the clear horizon.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Walīd ibn al-ʿAyzār, he said: I heard Abū al-Aḥwaṣ say concerning the saying of Allah: وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("And indeed, he saw him on the clear horizon"), he said: he saw Gabriel with six hundred wings in his true form.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿĀmir, he said: the Prophet ﷺ saw Gabriel in his true form only once. He used to come to him in the form of a man called Diḥya. On the day that he saw him in his true form, he came to him filling the entire horizon, clothed in green silk (sundus) from which pearls hung. That is the saying of Allah: وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالأفُقِ الْمُبِينِ ("And indeed, he saw him on the clear horizon").
And it was mentioned that this verse in إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wrapped up"), namely إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ ("Indeed, it is the word of a noble messenger"), is about Gabriel, up to His saying: وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍ ("And he is not, concerning the unseen, withholding"), by which the Prophet ﷺ is meant.
