On the authority of al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “When Allah Almighty wills to send down a command, He speaks the revelation, and the heavens are seized by a tremor”—or he said, “a violent quaking—out of fear of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. When the dwellers of the heavens hear this, they are thunderstruck, or they drop down in prostration. The first to raise his head is Gabriel, and Allah then addresses him with whatever He wills of His revelation. Gabriel passes among the angels, and each time he passes through a heaven its angels ask, ‘What has our Lord said, O Gabriel?’ He replies, ‘He has spoken the truth; He is the Most High, the Most Great.’ All of them then say what Gabriel has said. Gabriel continues with the revelation until he delivers it to the place Allah has commanded.” (1)

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al-Nawwās: al-Nawwās ibn Samʿān—with the sīn pronounced short—son of Khālid al-Kilābī, a venerable Companion (may Allah be pleased with him).

revelation: the speech of Allah sent down to one of His prophets.

are seized: meaning, the heavens are struck.

a tremor (rajfah): nominative, functioning as the subject of “are seized”; that is, they quake and shake.

out of fear of Allah: because the heavens fear Him, having been endowed with awareness and knowledge of Allah.

they are thunderstruck (ṣuʿiqū): “thunderstruck” here means to swoon and lose consciousness.