—some four hundred thousand souls—together with their beasts and livestock, the lands of those towns, their fields, buildings, and everything else. He raised all of that on the tip of one of his wings until he carried them to the fringes of the sky, so that the angels heard the barking of their dogs and the crowing of their roosters. Then he turned the towns over, making their highest parts their lowest. Such is “the One of tremendous power.”

Concerning His words, “possessor of mirrah” (Q 53:6), this means one endowed with excellent character, beauty, and splendor. Likewise He says elsewhere: “It is indeed the word brought by a noble Messenger” (Q 69:40)—that is, Gabriel, a messenger from God—“noble,” meaning of pleasing appearance; “endowed with power,” that is, possessed of immense strength: “endued with power, held in honor with the Lord of the Throne” (Q 81:20), meaning that he enjoys a lofty and exalted rank with God, the Lord of the glorious Throne. “Obeyed there” (Q 81:21) means obeyed in the Highest Assembly, and “trustworthy” (Q 81:21) denotes his great trustworthiness. For this reason he is the envoy between God and His prophets—peace be upon them—who descends to them with revelation containing truthful reports and just laws.

He would come to the Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, in various forms, as mentioned earlier. The Prophet saw him in the form in which God created him on two occasions; he had six hundred wings, as al-Bukhārī relates (1) from Ṭalq ibn Ghannām, from Zāʾidah, from al-Shaybānī, who said:

“I asked Zirr about the words of the Most High: ‘then he drew near and came down, till he was within two bow-lengths, or nearer still; then He revealed to His servant what He revealed’ (Q 53:9-10). He replied: ʿAbd Allāh—that is, Ibn Masʿūd—told us that Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, saw Gabriel, who had six hundred wings.”

Imām Aḥmad said: “Yahyā ibn Ādam narrated to us; Shurayk narrated to us; from Jāmiʿ ibn Abī Rāshid; from Abū Wāʾil; from ʿAbd Allāh, who said: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, saw Gabriel in his true form, and he had six hundred wings, each of which filled the horizon; from his wings there fell wondrous adornments—pearls and rubies—whose number only God knows.” (3)

Aḥmad also reported (4): “Ḥasan ibn Mūsā narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah; from ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdalah; from Zirr ibn Ḥubaysh; from Ibn Masʿūd regarding the verse: ‘And indeed he saw him another time, by the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit’ (Q 53:13-14). He said: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said, ‘I saw Gabriel and he had six hundred wings; marvelous ornaments—pearls and rubies—were cascading from his feathers.’”

Aḥmad further said (5): “Zayd ibn al-Ḥabbāb narrated to us; Ḥusayn narrated to us; ʿĀṣim ibn Bahdalah narrated to me; I heard Shaqīq ibn Salamah say: I heard Ibn Masʿūd say: The Messenger of God, blessings and peace be upon him, said, ‘I saw Gabriel at the Lote-tree of the Farthest Limit, and he had—’”