said: “Say, ‘The spirit (al-rūḥ) is from the command of my Lord.’” In other words, He did not satisfy them with the answer they wanted; rather, He made it clear that the spirit belongs to His exclusive domain. He is the One who created it, He alone knows its reality, and none of the created beings knows it. It is a hidden mystery and will remain so. This, therefore, is one of the miracles of the Qur’an: despite all the advances of medicine and the skill that now exists, and despite people’s eagerness to investigate the subject, they still know nothing of the true nature of the spirit. “Say, ‘The spirit is from the command of my Lord.’”

Here, the spirit is that by which a human being lives — that secret which, when fully present, makes a person alive; when it departs completely he is dead; and when it departs partially he is asleep. The spirit maintains several kinds of connection with the body: a connection while the person is still in his mother’s womb; a connection after birth during wakeful life; a connection while he is asleep; a connection while he is in the grave; and a connection in the Hereafter, after which there will be no further separation. The spirit is therefore one of the astonishing matters that none but Allah, exalted is He, truly knows.

Some have said that “the spirit” refers to Gabriel, peace be upon him. Others have said that it means one particular angel or a group of angels. In any case, the spirit remains a secret from among the secrets of Allah that He has not disclosed to His servants: “Say, ‘The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you have been given of knowledge only a little.’” However much knowledge and learning human beings are given, their knowledge is scant — indeed negligible — when compared with the knowledge of Allah, exalted is He.

As for His words, “And if We willed, We could surely take away what We have revealed to you” — that is, the Qur’an — Allah, exalted is He, sent down this Qur’an as a grace and a favor to His Messenger ﷺ and to