Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (7/405)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

during some of them. It has also been related from him: “He saw his Lord with his heart twice.” (1) And it is related from him: “He saw Him with his eyes.” (2)

Regarding His saying, “by the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary”: It has been related to us from Abdullah ibn Masud that he said: When the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was taken on the Night Journey, he reached the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary, which is in the seventh heaven. To it ascends that which is taken up from the earth, and it is received from it; and to it descends that which is brought down from above it, and it is received from it. Allah Most High said: “Near it is the Garden of Refuge, when there covered the lote tree that which covered it.” He said: “Golden moths.” (3)

It has been related to us in the hadith of the Ascension: “Then I was taken up to the seventh heaven, and there I found Abraham, peace be upon him. I greeted him with peace. Then the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary was raised before me, and its fruit was like the large jars of Hajar, while its leaves were like the ears of elephants.” (4)

The lote tree is the tree that bears lote fruit. It is called the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary because the knowledge of created beings reaches its limit there. Hilal ibn Yasaf (5) said: Ibn Abbas asked Kab about the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary while I was present. Kab replied: “It is a lote tree at the base of the Throne, above the heads of those who bear the Throne. The knowledge of all creatures reaches its limit there, while all that lies beyond it is of the unseen, known only to Allah.” (6)

Abu Said al-Shurayhi informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Thalabi informed us; Ibn Fanjawayh informed me; Ibn Shaybah related to us; al-Masuhi related to us; Ubayd ibn Yaish related to us; Yunus ibn Bukayr related to us; Muhammad ibn Ishaq informed us, from Yahya ibn Abbad ibn Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, from his father, from his grandmother Asma bint Abu Bakr, who said: I heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mention the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary. He said: “A rider may travel for one hundred years in the shade of one of its branches, and one hundred thousand riders may rest in the shade of a single branch. It contains golden moths, and its fruit is like large jars.” (7)

Muqatil said: It is a tree that bears jewelry, garments, and fruits of every color. Were one of its leaves to be placed upon the earth, it would illuminate all the inhabitants of the earth. It is the Tree of Tuba which Allah Most High mentions in Surah al-Rad.

(1) Narrated by Muslim in Kitab al-Iman, chapter: “The Meaning of Allah’s saying: ‘And indeed he saw him at another descent...’” no. 176, 1:158. (2) Al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir cited Imam Ahmad’s narration from Ibn Abbas: “I saw my Lord,” and said: “Its chain of transmission meets the conditions of the Sahih, but it is an abridgement of the hadith concerning the dream.” 4:252. On the following page, he said: “It has preceded that Ibn Abbas affirmed the vision on the night of the Isra and cited as evidence this verse: ‘And indeed he saw him at another descent.’ A group from among the early and later scholars followed him in this, while groups among the Companions, the Tabi'un, and others disagreed with him.” (3) Narrated by Muslim in Kitab al-Iman, chapter: “Mention of Sidrat al-Muntaha,” no. 173, 1:157. (4) Part of the hadith of Malik ibn Sa'sa'ah concerning the Mi'raj. Narrated by al-Bukhari in Kitab Bad' al-Khalq, chapter: “Mention of the Angels,” 6:302-303; and by Muslim in Kitab al-Iman, chapter: “The Prophet’s Night Journey to the Heavens and the Prescription of the Prayers,” no. 162, 1:145-147. (5) Manuscript B reads yasar (“left”); the correct reading is that adopted here. (6) Cited by al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur, 7:650, from Ibn Abi Shaybah. (7) Narrated by al-Tirmidhi in Sifat al-Jannah, chapter: “What Has Been Reported Regarding the Description of the Fruits of Paradise,” 7:248-249. He said: “This hadith is hasan sahih gharib.” Also narrated by al-Tabari, 27:54-55, and al-Hakim, 2:469, who said: “This hadith is authentic according to the conditions of Muslim, though neither of them narrated it.” Al-Suyuti also attributed it in al-Durr al-Manthur, 7:650, to Ibn Marduyah.

فِي بَعْضِهَا، وَرُوِّينَا عَنْهُ: "أَنَّهُ رَأَى رَبَّهُ بِفُؤَادِهِ مَرَّتَيْنِ" (١) وَعَنْهُ: "أَنَّهُ رَأَى بِعَيْنِهِ" (٢) قَوْلُهُ: "عِنْدَ سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَى" رُوِّينَا عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ: لَمَّا أُسْرِيَ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ انْتَهَى إِلَى سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَى وَهِيَ فِي السَّمَاءِ السَّابِعَةِ إِلَيْهَا يَنْتَهِي مَا يُعْرَجُ بِهِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ فَيُقْبَضُ مِنْهَا، وَإِلَيْهَا يَنْتَهِي مَا يُهْبَطُ بِهِ مِنْ فَوْقِهَا فَيُقْبَضُ مِنْهَا، قَالَ تَعَالَى: "عِنْدَهَا جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَى إِذْ يَغْشَى السِّدْرَةَ مَا يَغْشَى"، قَالَ: فِرَاشٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ (٣) . وَرُوِّينَا فِي حَدِيثِ الْمِعْرَاجِ: "ثُمَّ صَعِدَ بِي إِلَى السَّمَاءِ السَّابِعَةِ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِإِبْرَاهِيمَ ﵇ فَسَلَّمْتُ عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ رُفِعَتْ لِي سِدْرَةُ الْمُنْتَهَى فَإِذَا نَبْقُهَا مِثْلُ قِلَالِ هَجَرَ، وَإِذَا وَرَقُهَا مِثْلُ آذَانِ الْفِيَلَةِ" (٤) . "وَالسِّدْرَةُ" شَجْرَةُ النَّبْقِ، وَقِيلَ لَهَا: سِدْرَةُ الْمُنْتَهَى لِأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهَا يَنْتَهِي عِلْمُ الْخَلْقِ. قَالَ هِلَالُ بْنُ [يَسَافَ] (٥) : سَأَلَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ كَعْبًا عَنْ سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَى وَأَنَا حَاضِرٌ، فَقَالَ كَعْبٌ: إِنَّهَا سِدْرَةٌ فِي أَصْلِ العرش على رؤوس حَمَلَةِ الْعَرْشِ وَإِلَيْهَا يَنْتَهِي عِلْمُ الْخَلَائِقِ، وَمَا خَلْفَهَا غَيْبٌ لَا يَعْلَمُهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ (٦) . أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو سَعِيدٍ الشَّرِيحِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ الثَّعْلَبِيُّ، أَخْبَرَنِي ابْنُ فَنْجَوَيْهِ، حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا الْمَسُوحِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَبِيدُ بْنُ يَعِيشَ، حَدَّثَنَا يُونُسُ بْنُ بُكَيْرٍ، أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ عَبَّادِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ جَدَّتِهِ أَسْمَاءَ بِنْتِ أَبِي بَكْرٍ قَالَتْ: سَمِعْتُ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ يَذْكُرُ سِدْرَةَ الْمُنْتَهَى، قَالَ: "يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّ الْفَنَنِ مِنْهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ وَيَسْتَظِلُّ فِي الْفَنَنِ مِنْهَا مِائَةُ أَلْفِ رَاكِبٍ، فِيهَا فِرَاشٌ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، كَأَنَّ ثَمَرَهَا الْقِلَالُ" (٧) . وَقَالَ مُقَاتِلٌ: هِيَ شَجَرَةٌ تَحْمِلُ الْحُلِيَّ وَالْحُلَلَ وَالثِّمَارَ مِنْ جَمِيعِ الْأَلْوَانِ، لَوْ أَنَّ وَرَقَةً وُضِعَتْ مِنْهَا فِي الْأَرْضِ لَأَضَاءَتْ لِأَهْلِ الْأَرْضِ، وَهِيَ طُوبَى الَّتِي ذَكَرَهَا اللَّهُ تَعَالَى فِي سُورَةِ الرَّعْدِ.

(١) أخرجه مسلم في الإيمان، باب معنى قول الله ﷿: (ولقد رآه نزلة أخرى٠٠) برقم: (١٧٦) :١ / ١٥٨. (٢) ساق الحافظ ابن كثير رواية الإمام أحمد عن ابن عباس ﵄ "رأيت ربي ﷿" وقال: "حديث إسناده على شرط الصحيح لكنه مختصر من حديث المنام": ٤ / ٢٥٢، ثم قال في الصفحة التالية: "وتقدم أن ابن عباس ﵄ كان يثبت الرؤية ليلة الإسراء، ويستشهد بهذه الآية (ولقد رآه نزلة أخرى) وتابعه جماعة من السلف والخلف وقد خالفه جماعات من الصحابة ﵃ والتابعين وغيرهم". (٣) أخرجه مسلم في الإيمان، باب في ذكر سدرة المنتهى برقم: (١٧٣) : ١ / ١٥٧. (٤) قطعة من حديث مالك بن صعصعة ﵁ في المعراج، أخرجه البخاري في بدء الخلق، باب ذكر الملائكة،٦ / ٣٠٢-٣٠٣، ومسلم في الإيمان، باب الإسراء برسول الله ﷺ إلى السموات وفرض الصلوات برقم: (١٦٢) : ١ / ١٤٥-١٤٧. (٥) في "ب" يسار والصحيح ما أثبتناه. (٦) عزاه السيوطي في الدر المنثور: ٧ / ٦٥٠ لابن أبي شيبة. (٧) أخرجه الترمذي في صفة الجنة، باب ما جاء في صفة ثمار الجنة: ٧ / ٢٤٨-٢٤٩ وقال: "هذا حديث حسن صحيح غريب"، والطبري: ٢٧ / ٥٤-٥٥، والحاكم: ٢ / ٤٦٩ وقال: "هذا حديث صحيح على شرط مسلم ولم يخرجاه". وزاد السيوطي في الدر المنثور: ٧ / ٦٥٠ عزوه لابن مردويه.