ʿAbbās: “Did Muhammad see his Lord?” He replied, “Yes.” He was asked, “How did he see Him?” He replied, “In the form of a young man, with a veil of pearls before Him, as though His feet were amid greenery.”

I said to Ibn ʿAbbās, “But what of His words, ‘Vision cannot perceive Him, but He perceives all vision, and He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware’ (103) [al-Anʿām 103]?” He replied, “May you be bereft of your mother! That is His light—His own light. When He manifests Himself in His light, nothing can perceive Him.”

This indicates that he saw Him, and the account states that he saw Him in the form of a young man, with a veil before Him and His feet amid greenery. It also indicates that this is the seeing against which the verse was cited as an objection and to which the foregoing reply was given. This therefore implies seeing with the eyes, as in the authentic hadith traced back to the Prophet, narrated by Qatādah from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“I saw my Lord in the form of a beardless young man with a full head of tightly curled hair, in a green meadow.”

Fourth, the report of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Salamah states that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar sent a messenger to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās to ask whether Muhammad had seen his Lord. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās sent him the answer, “Yes, indeed.” In response, he sent back to him