An Account of the Prophet’s Ascension to the Heavens:

Allah, Exalted is He, says: “He was taught by one mighty in power, possessed of tremendous strength; he rose to his true form while he was on the highest horizon. Then he drew near and descended, until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even closer” (al-Najm 53:5-11). He also says: “And indeed he saw him another time, at the Lote-Tree of the Utmost Boundary” (al-Najm 53:13-14).

Explaining these verses, Zāʾidah and others reported from Abū Isḥāq al-Shaybānī: I asked Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh about the words of Allah, “until he was two bow-lengths away, or even closer,” and he told me that ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd said, “He saw Gabriel, who had six hundred wings.” The two sound compilers recorded this report.

Shuʿbah also transmitted from this same al-Shaybānī, but I asked him about the verse, “He certainly saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord” (al-Najm 53:18). He replied that the Prophet saw Gabriel with six hundred wings.

Al-Bukhārī narrated—Qabīṣah related to us, from Sufyān, from al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm, from ʿAlqamah, from ʿAbd Allah—regarding the verse, “He certainly saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord,” that he saw a green cushion (rafraf) filling the entire horizon.

Hammād ibn Salamah narrated: ʿĀṣim related to us, from Zirr, from ʿAbd Allah, concerning the verse, “And indeed he saw him on another descent” (al-Najm 53:13). He said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, stated, “I saw Gabriel at the Lote-Tree; he had six hundred wings, and from the movement of his feathers there showered down wondrous pearls and rubies.”