Abu al-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Muʿaddal (1) reported to us; Imam Abū Muḥammad ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad al-Maqdisī told us—in the year 616 AH; Hibbah Allāh ibn al-Ḥasan al-Daqqāq informed us; Abū al-Faḍl ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAlī ibn Zikriyyā (2) narrated to us; ʿAlī (3) ibn Muḥammad al-Muʿaddal related to us. He said:
Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Razzāz (4) narrated to us; Saʿdān (5) ibn Naṣr narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī reported to us, from Ibn ʿAwn, who said: al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad narrated, from ʿĀʾishah—may Allah be pleased with her—that she said:
“Whoever claims that Muḥammad ﷺ saw his Lord has perpetrated a grave falsehood against Allah Most High. Rather, he saw Gabriel twice in his original form, filling the entire expanse between the horizons.” (6)
(1) The printed edition mistakenly reads “al-Mu‘awwal.”
(2) The Damascus and Dar al-Maʿarif printings misread it as “Zakariyya.”
(3) The printed edition misreads it as “Ismaʿil.”
(4) The Damascus printing misreads it as “al-Razi.”
(5) The Damascus printing misreads it as “Maʿdan.”
(6) Ahmad (6/241) records, through Ibn Abi ʿAdi – Dawud ibn Abi Hind – al-Shaʿbi – Masruq, that Masruq said: “I was with ʿAʾisha and asked, ‘Does not Allah say, “He saw him on the clear horizon” and “He saw him yet another time”?’ She replied: ‘I was the first of this ummah to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about those two verses. He said: That was Gabriel; the Prophet only saw him in the form in which he was created twice. He saw him descending from heaven to earth, his vast body filling the space between them.’ Muslim (no. 177, Book of Faith, chapter on the meaning of ‘He saw him yet another time’) transmits the same report through al-Shaʿbi. Al-Bukhari (8/466, 469) likewise relates it through al-Shaʿbi from Masruq, who said: ‘I asked ʿAʾisha, “Mother, did Muhammad see his Lord?” She responded: My hair stood on end at what you said! Keep clear of three claims; anyone who relates them to you is lying. She then recited, “Vision does not encompass Him, but He encompasses vision, and He is the Subtle, the All-Aware,” and, “It is not given to any human that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil.” She continued, “Whoever tells you that he knows what will happen tomorrow is lying,” and recited, “No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow.” “Whoever tells you that he withheld anything is lying,” and she recited, “O Messenger, convey what has been sent down to you from your Lord…” Rather, he saw Gabriel twice in his true form.’ Al-Tirmidhi (no. 3278, Tafsir) also records it through Sufyan – Mujalid – al-Shaʿbi.