then he descended, and was two bow-lengths away—or even nearer—whereupon He revealed to His servant what He revealed (al-Najm 6–10).

The pronoun in “drew near” refers to Gabriel, whereas in “He revealed to His servant” it refers to God. This is the soundest view among the commentators, although some have said that all the pronouns go back to God. On that latter view, the Exalted drew near in a manner that befits His majesty, just as the Prophet said: “Our Lord draws near to the lowest heaven …” (1).

The phrase “and was two bow-lengths away” is connected to “drew near,” so it is acceptable to say that God’s nearness was “two bow-lengths,” in line with the Prophet’s statement: “The One you call upon is closer to any one of you than the neck of his mount” (2).

As for “or even nearer,” the particle aw (“or”) is understood by the exegetes to mean “rather” or to serve as an emphatic confirmation, as in His words, “and We sent him to a hundred thousand—or more” (al-Saffat 147), meaning: “rather, they were more.” Others maintain that aw here confirms what preceded it—as though the verse were saying: if they were not more, they were certainly not fewer—much like someone’s saying, “I have a thousand dirhams, or more,” which people understand to mean that the amount cannot be less than a thousand but may well be greater.

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The same principle applies to expressions such as “the dawn,” “the even,” “the odd,” and “the ten nights,” and the like. In such cases it may be permissible to intend every meaning cited by the early scholars, though at times that may not be permissible. The first possibility is either because the verse was revealed twice—so that on one occasion it conveys one meaning and on another a different one—or because a homonymous term can legitimately encompass both of its meanings, for