سورة النور

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Allah has an angel in the form of an ash-grey rooster whose talons are in the seventh lowest layer of the earth and whose crest is beneath the Throne. This rooster has two wings, one of fire in the east and the other of snow in the west. Whenever the time of prayer arrives, it stands on its talons and raises its crest from beneath the Throne. Then it brings its two wings close together and flaps them just as the domestic roosters in your houses do, without the snowy wing extinguishing the fire or the fiery wing melting the snow. Then it calls out in a loud voice: أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدَهُ وَ رَسُولَهُ خَاتَمُ النَّبِیِّینَ وَ أَنَّ وَصِیَّهُ خَیْرُ الْوَصِیِّینَ سُبُّوحٌ قُدُّوسٌ رَبُّ الْملَائِکَةِ وَ الرُّوح [I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets, and that his successor is the best of successors; All-Glorified, All-Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit]. Thereupon every earthly rooster answers him, and this is what Allah the Mighty and Majestic means by the verse: وَ الطَّیْرُ صَافَّاتٍ کُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهُ وَ تَسْبِیحَهُ [And the birds with expanded wings; He knows the prayer of each one and its glorification].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Asbagh ibn Nubata said: Ibn al-Kawwa came to Imam Ali (peace be upon him) ... The Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) said: "O Ibn al-Kawwa! Allah the Exalted created the angels in various forms, and indeed Allah the Exalted has an angel who is in the form of a rooster with a hoarse voice and an ash-grey colour. Its talons have sunk down to the depths of the seventh layer of the earth, and the crest of its head is bent beneath the Throne. This angel has two wings, one made of fire that extends to the east and the other made of snow that extends to the west. At the time of prayer, it stands on its talons, raises its neck from beneath the Throne, and flaps its wings together like the domestic roosters. Neither does the fiery wing melt the snowy wing, nor does the snowy wing extinguish the fiery wing. Then it calls out: أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدَهُ وَ رَسُولَهُ خَاتَمُ النَّبِیِّینَ وَ أَنَّ وَصِیَّهُ خَیْرُ الْوَصِیِّینَ سُبُّوحٌ قُدُّوسٌ رَبُّ الْملَائِکَةِ وَ الرُّوح [I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets, and that his successor is the best of successors; All-Glorified, All-Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit]." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "When the domestic roosters hear this sound, they flap their wings together and answer his words, and this verse: وَ الطَّیْرُ صَافَّاتٍ کُلٌّ قَدْ عَلِمَ صَلَاتَهُ وَ تَسْبِیحَهُ [And the birds with expanded wings; He knows the prayer of each one and its glorification] concerns the roosters of the earth."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Allah the Blessed and Exalted has an angel in the form of a white rooster, whose head is beneath the Throne and whose feet are in the depths of the seventh earth; one of its wings is in the east and the other in the west. No rooster crows until this rooster crows, and when it crows it beats its wings and then recites this dhikr: سُبْحَانَ اللهِ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ الْعَظِیمِ الَّذِی لَیْسَ کَمِثْلِهِ شَیْء [Glory be to Allah, glory be to Allah, glory be to Allah the Great, whom nothing resembles]. Then Allah the Blessed and Exalted answers it and says: 'One who understands what you say would never swear by Me falsely.'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Indeed Allah has a rooster whose feet are sunk in the seventh lowest layer of the earth and whose head is beside the Throne, and it bends its neck beneath the Throne; and it is an angel from the angels whom Allah the Exalted created, whose feet are in the seventh lowest layer of the earth, and it has risen up as high as the earthly spheres until it has passed out of the earth and ascends to the height of the sky until its horn reaches the Throne, while it says: 'My Lord, You are pure and free of all defect.' This rooster has two wings which, when it opens them, reach the east and the west and pass beyond them. When the night nears its end, it spreads its wings and beats them together and raises the call of tasbih, saying: سُبْحَانَ اللهِ المَلِکِ الْقُدُّوسِ سُبْحَانَ الْکَبِیرِ المُتَعَالِ الْقُدُّوسِ لا إِلهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الحَیُّ الْقَیُّوم [Glory be to Allah the King, the Most Holy; glory be to the Great, the Most High, the Most Holy; there is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Subsisting]. And when it does so, the roosters of the earth also glorify Allah and beat their wings and cry out; and when that heavenly rooster falls silent, the earthly roosters also fall silent. And when dawn draws near, it spreads its wings and passes beyond the east and the west and beats them together and raises the call of tasbih, saying: سُبْحَانَ اللهِ الْعَظِیمِ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ الْعَزِیزِ الْقَهَّارِ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ ذِی الْعَرْشِ المَجِیدِ سُبْحَانَ اللهِ ذِی الْعَرْشِ الرَّفِیع [Glory be to Allah the Great; glory be to Allah the Mighty, the Overpowering; glory be to Allah, Lord of the Glorious Throne; glory be to Allah, Lord of the Exalted Throne]. And when it does so, the roosters of the earth also glorify. And when the heavenly rooster stirs, the earthly roosters also stir, and with tasbih and taqdis of Allah the Mighty and Majestic they answer its call. This heavenly rooster has feathers that are white with the utmost whiteness, the like of which I have never seen, and it has a green down beneath its white feathers that is of the utmost green, the like of which I have never seen, and I have always longed to see the feathers of that rooster.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): In the seven heavens there are seas, the depth of one of which is a journey of five hundred years. In them are angels who have been standing since the moment Allah the Mighty and Majestic created them, with the water reaching up to their knees. Each of them has one thousand four hundred wings, and on each wing are four faces, and on each face are four tongues. Every one of the wings, faces, tongues and mouths glorifies Allah with a form of tasbih unlike any of the others.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ishaq said: Someone who had heard it from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) narrated to me that His Eminence (peace be upon him) said: "No wealth is lost on land or at sea except because its zakat has not been paid, and no bird is caught except because it has failed to fulfil the right of glorification (tasbih)." [Salim, the freedman of Aban, said:] I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "No bird is hunted except because it has abandoned glorification (tasbih), and no wealth is lost except because the zakat on that wealth has not been paid."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): No bird on land or at sea and no wild creature is hunted except because it has become heedless of the glorification (tasbih) of Allah.