ʿAbd Allah ibn Aḥmad al-Faqīh reported to us, saying: Hibat Allah ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Hilāl informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAlī ibn Zikrā informed us in the year 484 AH; he said: ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah informed us; he said: Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; he said: Saʿdān ibn Naṣr narrated to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah al-Anṣārī narrated to us, from Ibn ʿAwn, who said: al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad informed us, from ʿĀʾishah who said:

“Whoever claims that Muḥammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—saw his Lord has uttered a tremendous slander against Allah. He only saw Gabriel twice in his own form and stature, filling the space between the horizons.”

Al-Bukhārī recorded this ḥadīth from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Thalj, from al-Anṣārī.

I (the author) say: The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, differed over whether Muḥammad, peace and blessings be upon him, saw his Lord. ʿĀʾishah rejected the notion. As for the narrations from Ibn Masʿūd, they merely clarify what is mentioned in Sūrat al-Najm, and nothing in his words denies the possibility of seeing Allah. This discussion is found in the Ṣaḥīḥ and elsewhere.

Yūnus related from Ibn Shihāb, from Anas, who said: Abū Dharr used to relate that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“The roof of my house was opened while I was in Mecca, and Gabriel descended, split open my chest, washed it with water from Zamzam, then brought a golden basin filled with wisdom and faith and poured it into my chest before closing it again. He then took me by the hand and ascended with me to the lowest heaven. He said to its gatekeeper, ‘Open.’ The gatekeeper asked, ‘Who is this?’ He replied, ‘Gabriel.’ He asked, ‘Is anyone with you?’ He said, ‘Yes—Muḥammad.’ He asked, ‘Has he been sent for?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ So the gate was opened. When we rose above the lowest heaven, I saw a man with dark throngs to his right and dark throngs to his left: when he looked to his right he laughed, and when he looked to his left he wept. He said, ‘Welcome, righteous Prophet and righteous son.’ I said, ‘O Gabriel, who …’”