And he certainly saw him a second time, * at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, * near which is the Garden of Refuge, * when there covered the Lote Tree that which covered it. * His sight did not swerve, nor did it transgress. * He certainly saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord.”
[al-Najm: 5–18]

He thus states that his teacher was mighty in power and endowed with strength.

People have differed over whom he saw on those two occasions. Ibn Mas‘ūd, ‘Ā’ishah and others said: “It was Gabriel. He saw him twice in the form in which he was created,” as established in the Sahīh in a report from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

Ibn ‘Abbās and others said: “He saw his Lord with his heart twice.”

It is clear that if the one seen was Gabriel—the one whom he saw at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, near which is the Garden of Refuge, and who appeared in his true form on the highest horizon—then Gabriel cannot have been something within the Prophet’s soul. If the one seen was Allah, then that is greater still.

Some of these people say: “Gabriel is the active intellect.” They explain “not withholding (danīn)” as meaning “not miserly,” because he pours forth abundantly.

This is ignorance, for the reading of the majority is bi-zanīn, meaning “suspected of falsehood.” This is the fitting meaning: he is not suspected of falsehood concerning what is hidden from us; rather, he is trustworthy in conveying news of the unseen.

If the reading is danīn, meaning “miserly,” it describes him as not withholding knowledge of the unseen, but instead making the truth clear. Hence His words: “suspected concerning the unseen.”