66 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADHe rose one heaven to another on the ladder until he passed over the seventh
heaven. Whenever he reached a heaven its favoured attendants and the most
important angels and prophets therein would meet him.
He made reference to major persons from among the mursalzn, the messengers
of God, like Adam in the nearest heaven, John and Jesus in the second, Idris in
the fourth, Moses in the sixth, and Abraham in the seventh, leaning his back
against the bayt al-ma'mur, the "eternal abode", that is entered each day by
70,000 angels who worship therein in prayer and circumambulation, and they do
not return there again until Judgement Day.
He then ascended above their ranks and reached a level where the squeaking
of pens could be heard.7 There the sidrat al-muntahii, the "late tree at the
boundaryn,8 stood high before the Messenger of God (SAAS); its leaves were
like the ears of an elephant, its fruit like summits of Mt. Hidjr, and covered all
about by great deeds and many splendid colours, with angels perching upon it as
numerous as starlings on a tree. And there was a canopy of gold, bathed in the
light of our Lord, All-Glorious is He.There also he saw Gabriel, peace be upon him. He had upon him 600 wings with
the space between each two wings as great as that between heaven and earth. It is
Gabriel of whom God Almighty spoke thus: "And he certainly saw him in another
revelation, at the s~drat almmtaha, at which is the garden of eternity. When the tree
was shrouded in its covering, sight did not turn aside, nor did it exceed its bound"
(siirat al-Nap; LIII, v.13-17). That is, it (i.e. sight, tr.) did not turn aside to the
right or to the left, nor did it look up at that which was out of bounds.
This was both tremendous fortitude (on the part of Muhammad) and a great
show of respect (for God).
This second vision (that he had) of Gabriel, peace he upon him, in the natural
form in which God created him, is in accord with the statements transmitted by
Ibn Mus'iid, Abn Hurayra, Abii Dharr and 'il'isha, God be pleased with them all.
The first vision (that Muhammad had of Gabriel) was, in the words of the
Almighty, when, "(an) all-powerful (angel) taught him, the one endowed with
supreme power, who (appeared) in his natural form while in the highest point on
the horizon. He then drew near and came close, until he was two bow lengths
away, or closer. Then he made his revelation to His servant" (siirat al-Najm;
LIII, v.6-10).
That took place at al-Abt&.9 Gabriel stretched out over the Messenger of
God (SAAS), the enormity of his being dominating all between earth and sky,
until there was only the space of a bow's length or two between them both.
- A reference to the Islamic belief that angels, working as scribes in the service of God, record
the fate and destiny of the universe as dictated to them by Him. - A tree believed to be positioned to the right side of God's throne.
- The name of a place near Mecca.