—such as implementing His commands throughout creation. They shoulder tremendous tasks, and the nature of their very being is known only to Allah ⦗1⦘. Their constitution differs from that of the children of Adam: “He made the angels messengers with wings—two, three, or four” (Fatir 35:1), and to some He grants even more, for “He adds to His creation whatever He wills” (Fatir 35:1). Gabriel—upon him be peace—has six-hundred wings; each single wing fills the entire horizon. None but Allah knows the reality of their form and its modality.

Human beings are incapable of seeing an angel in his true likeness; the angel therefore comes in human shape, just as Gabriel used to visit the Prophet ﷺ in the guise of a man, sitting with him and addressing him. The Prophet ﷺ saw him in his angelic form only twice: once on the open plain of Mecca, when he beheld him on the horizon, and once at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary during the Night-Journey and Ascension. On every other occasion Gabriel came to the Prophet ﷺ in human form, often appearing in the likeness of Dihyah al-Kalbi—may Allah be pleased with him.

The phrase “and the prophets” refers to the plural of nabī, which designates one to whom a law is revealed but who is not commanded to convey it. A rasūl (messenger) is one to whom a law is revealed and who is commanded to convey it. Belief in all the prophets and messengers is obligatory; whoever believes in some of them while rejecting