Shu‘bah related from Sulayman al-Shaybani, who heard Zirr ibn Hubaysh relate from Abdullah, who said: “He certainly saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord.” He said: “He saw (1) Gabriel in his true form, having six hundred wings.” (2)

Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; 143/b Ahmad ibn Abdullah al-Nu‘aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma‘il related to us; Hafs ibn ‘Amr related to us; Shu‘bah related from al-A‘mash, from Ibrahim, from Alqamah [from Abdullah] (3), concerning, “He certainly saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord”: He said, “He saw a green canopy that filled the horizon of the sky.” (4)

“Have you then considered al-Lat and al-Uzza (19)?”

Regarding His saying, exalted is He, “Have you then considered al-Lat and al-Uzza?”: These are the names (5) of idols which they had adopted as deities to worship. They derived names for them from the names of Allah Most High: from Allah, al-Lat; and from al-Aziz, the Almighty, al-Uzza. It was also said that al-Uzza is the feminine form of al-A‘azz, “the mightier.”

As for al-Lat, Qatadah said: “It was at al-Ta’if.” Ibn Zayd said: “It was a shrine at Nakhlah which Quraysh worshipped.” (6)

Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and Abu Salih recited it as al-Latt, with a doubled t. They said: “He was a man who used to prepare parched barley meal for the pilgrims. When he died, they devoted themselves to his grave and worshipped him.” (7)

Mujahid said: “He was on the summit of a mountain and had a small sheep, from which he would make clarified butter, take dried curds, and collect its milk. He would then make a mixture from it and feed it to the pilgrims. He was at the bottom of Nakhlah; when he died, they worshipped him. This was al-Latt.” (8) (9)

Al-Kalbi said: “He was a man from Thaqif called Sirmah ibn Ghanam. He would melt clarified butter and place it upon a rock. Then the Arabs would come to him and mix their parched barley meal with it. When the man died, Thaqif moved that rock to their dwellings and worshipped it. Thus, the lote tree of al-Ta’if stands upon the site of al-Lat.”

As for al-Uzza, Mujahid said: “It was a tree among Ghatafan which they worshipped. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, sent Khalid ibn al-Walid, who cut it down. Khalid ibn al-Walid began striking it with an axe, saying: