The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 537
PT. 15 BANI ISRĀ'ĪL description" (Muslim, Kitābul-Īmān) The third incident referred to in chapter 53 (An-Najm) is that the Holy Prophet saw Paradise near the Lote-tree. This has also found mention in traditions which deal with Mi'raj. In the tradition quoted on the authority of Abū Sa'id al-Khudri by Ibn Jarir and mentioned in some other CH. 17 die twice the بفؤاده مرتين we read Prophet saw God with the eyes of his heart. The sixth notable detail mentioned in chapter 53 is that God spoke to the Holy Prophet near the Lote-tree (53:11). This fact has also found a mention in the traditions. For instance, in the tradition reported by فکلمه الله تعالی عند ذالک Abu Hurairah we have ثم انى رفعت الى الجنة : books of Hadith we read i. e. after I had seen the Prophets in the heavens I was taken up to Paradise. This is followed by the words i. e. after paradise I was led up to the Lote-tree (Ibn Jarir, vol. 15, p. 11). The fourth important detail mentioned in chapter 53 is that when the Holy Prophet had a vision of those celestial scenes he was transported into a highly spiritual state which has been described in the words, So that he became, as it were, the one chord of two bows or closer still. This fact has also been mentioned in the traditions about Mi'raj. In the tradition reported by Abū Sa'id al- Khudrī and referred to above we find the words: i. e. between God and the Prophet there was the one chord of two bows or closer still. The fifth important and relevant incident mentioned in chapter 53 is that during the Mi'raj the Prophet had a vision of God Himself (53:12). This fact has also been mentioned in the traditions quoted by Ibn Merdawaih on the authority of Asmā', daughter of Abu Bakr (Al-Khaṣā'iṣul-Kubrā, vol. 1, p. 177), and by Muslim on the authority of Ibn 'Abbās (Muslim, Kitābul-Īmān). In the latter tradition 1745 i. e. SO God spoke to him near it the Lote-tree (Al-Khaṣā'iṣul- Kubrā, vol. 1, p. 174). Similarly, Ibn Abū Ḥātim has reported on the authority of Anas bin Mālik that when the Prophet arrived near the Lote-tree, God addressed him by name saying i. e. O Muḥammad, and then Anas continues to finish the ḥadīth. These very striking similarities resemblances between the subject matter of Surah An-Najm and the traditions about Mi'raj leave no doubt that it is the Mi'raj of the Holy Prophet which has been described in that Surah. and After having established the fact that Surah An-Najm contains a description of the Mi'raj it is important to point out that this Surah has been admitted by the consensus of scholarly opinion to have been revealed in the fifth year of the Call or even earlier. The following very well-known historical event proves it. A party of early Muslims had sought refuge in Abyssinia. They left Mecca in the seventh month of the fifth year of the Call (Muir, The Life of Mahomet, 1923, p. 69). Now the traditions agree that three months had hardly elapsed since this little band of the Faithful had left for Abyssinia