What al-Bayhaqī—may Allah have mercy on him—said on this question is indeed the truth, for Abū Dharr once asked, “Messenger of Allah, did you see your Lord?” He replied, “Light—how could I see Him?” In another report he said, “I saw light.” Muslim records both versions.

As for the verse, “Then he drew near and descended” (Q 53:8), it refers solely to Gabriel, as is established in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from ʿĀʾishah, Mother of the Believers, and from Ibn Masʿūd, and likewise in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from Abū Hurayrah. No Companion is known to have differed with them in explaining the verse in this way.” End of Ibn Kathīr’s words.

I would add: see my book Ẓilāl al-Jannah fī Takhrīj Kitāb al-Sunnah, 1/191.

Also among Sharik’s mistakes is his remark at the beginning of the hadith, “before revelation had come to him.” Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar says in Fatḥ al-Bārī, 13/480:

“This was rejected by al-Khaṭṭābī, Ibn Ḥazm, ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq, al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ, and al-Nawawī. Al-Nawawī’s wording is: ‘In Sharik’s version—meaning this one—there are errors that the scholars have repudiated. One of them is his statement, “before revelation had come to him.” This is a mistake to which no one has assented. The scholars unanimously agree that the obligation of prayer was imposed on the Night of the Isrāʾ, so how could it have been before revelation?’ End quote.”