I heard Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, say: “It means that there was light there, or that light prevented him from seeing Him—how, then, could he see Him?” He said: “This is supported by another authentic wording: ‘Have you seen your Lord?’ He replied: ‘I saw light.’”

This hadith has greatly perplexed many people. Some even emended it to read, “He is luminous; I see Him,” taking the yā’ as an adjectival suffix and treating the expression as a single word. This is incorrect both in wording and in meaning. What led them into this confusion and error was their belief that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had seen his Lord. Since his words, “How could I see Him?” appeared to deny such a vision, they became bewildered by the hadith. Some rejected it on the grounds of inconsistency in its wording. All of this departs from what the evidence entails.

In his Book of the Vision, ‘Uthmān ibn Sa‘īd al-Dārimī reported the consensus of the Companions that the Prophet had not seen his Lord on the night of the Ascension. Some, however, excepted Ibn ‘Abbās from those who held this view.

Our shaykh says: “There is no real disagreement here, for Ibn ‘Abbās did not say that he saw Him with his physical eyes.” Ahmad relied on his statement in one of the two positions reported from him, saying that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, saw his Lord, mighty and majestic is He, without saying that he saw Him with his physical eyes. Ahmad’s wording is the same as that of Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allah be pleased with him.

The correctness of our shaykh’s explanation of Abū Dharr’s hadith is supported by the Prophet’s words in the other hadith: “His veil is light.” This light—and Allah knows best—is the light mentioned in Abū Dharr’s hadith: “I saw light.”

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Allah Most High says:

“The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp.”

This is a parable of His light in the heart of His believing servant, as Ubayy ibn Ka‘b and others explained.