سورة النجم

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) while I was present. He said: "May I be your ransom, how many times was the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) taken on the Mi'raj?" He said: "Twice, and Jibra'il stopped him at a station and said to him: 'Stay in your place, O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! For you are standing in a place where no angel or prophet has ever stood; indeed, your Lord is in prayer.'" He said: "O Jibra'il! What kind of prayer?" He said: "He says: Subbuh, Quddus, I am the Lord of the angels and the Spirit, whose mercy precedes his wrath." The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Allah, I seek Your pardon, I seek Your pardon." The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "And it was as Allah says: the Prophet reached the station of قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [the measure of two bows or closer still]." Abu Basir said to His Eminence: "May I be your ransom, what is قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [the measure of two bows or closer still]?" He said: "The measure of the distance between the curved end of the bow and its top." Then he said: "And between them was a veil that glittered and dimmed, and I think he said: it was of chrysolite, so the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) beheld the light of the Majesty from the size of the eye of a needle up to whatever Allah willed [from the lowest degree to the highest rank]. And Allah the Blessed and Exalted said: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)!' He said: 'At Your service, my Lord.' He said: 'Who is the leader of your community after you?' He said: 'Allah knows best.' He said: 'It is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), the Commander of the Faithful, the master of the Muslims, and the leader of those with radiant faces and shining limbs.'" Then Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said to Abu Basir: "O Abu Muhammad! By Allah, the wilayah of Ali (peace be upon him) did not come from the earth, but rather it came orally from the heavens."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ibn Sinan narrated that Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The first of the messengers to say "Yes" was the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family); for he was the closest of creation to Allah the Blessed and Exalted, and he was in the very place where, when he ascended to the heavens, Jibra'il said to him: "O Muhammad! Go forward; you have set foot in a place where no near-stationed angel nor sent prophet has set foot." Had it not been that his spirit and his soul were [created] from that very place, he would not have been able to reach it. And as Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: his distance from Allah was the measure of two bows or less. That is, rather, closer than that.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): When I was taken up to the heavens, I reached Sidrat al-Muntaha, which was at the distance of two bow-lengths or less. I saw with my heart, not with my eye. I heard an adhan, [each phrase] twice twice, and an iqama, [each phrase] once once. A caller called out: 'O My angels and inhabitants of My heavens and My earth and bearers of My Throne, bear witness that there is no god but Me, I am One and have no partner.' They said: 'We bear witness and we affirm.' 'O My angels and inhabitants of My heavens and My earth and bearers of My Throne, bear witness that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) is My servant and My messenger.' They said: 'We bear witness and we affirm.' He said: 'O angels, inhabitants of My heavens and My earth and bearers of My Throne, bear witness that Ali (peace be upon him) is My wali and the wali of My Messenger and the wali of the believers after the Prophet.' They said: 'We bear witness and we affirm.'

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'When I entered Paradise, I came to myself and asked Jibra'il about those seas and their greatness and their astonishing creation.' He said: 'They are the canopies of the veils with which Allah has veiled Himself; had those veils not been there, the light of the divine Throne would have destroyed everything.' I reached Sidrat al-Muntaha, and every leaf of it cast its shade over a nation. In relation to it, I was as Allah says: قَابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَی [the measure of two bows or closer still]. Allah called me: آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِما أُنْزِلَ إِلَیْهِ مِنْ رَبِّهِ [The Messenger (of Allah) has believed in what has been sent down to him from his Lord], and I, answering on behalf of myself and my Ummah, replied: وَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ کُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللهِ وَ مَلائِکَتِهِ وَ کُتُبِهِ وَ رُسُلِهِ لا نُفَرِّقُ بَیْنَ أَحَدٍ مِنْ رُسُلِهِ [and (so have) the believers; each has believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, (saying:) we make no distinction between any of His messengers (and we believe in them all)]. And [the believers] said: سَمِعْنا وَ أَطَعْنا غُفْرانَکَ رَبَّنا وَ إِلَیْکَ الْمَصِیرُ [We hear and we obey. (We seek) Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the return]. Allah said: لا یُکَلِّفُ اللهُ نَفْساً إِلَّا وُسْعَها لَها ما کَسَبَتْ وَ عَلَیْها مَا اکْتَسَبَتْ [Allah does not burden a soul except with what it can bear; for it is what [good] it has earned, and against it is what [evil] it has earned]. I said: رَبَّنا لا تُؤاخِذْنا إِنْ نَسِینا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنا [Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or err]. Allah said: 'I will not take you to task.' Then I said: رَبَّنا وَ لا تَحْمِلْ عَلَیْنا إِصْراً کَما حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَی الَّذِینَ مِنْ قَبْلِنا [Our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden as You laid upon those before us]. Allah said: 'I will not lay it upon you.' I said: رَبَّنا وَ لا تُحَمِّلْنا ما لا طاقَةَ لَنا بِهِ وَ اعْفُ عَنَّا وَ اغْفِرْ لَنا وَ ارْحَمْنا أَنْتَ مَوْلانا فَانْصُرْنا عَلَی الْقَوْمِ الْکافِرِینَ [Our Lord, do not burden us with what we have no strength to bear, and pardon us, and forgive us, and have mercy upon us; You are our Master, so grant us victory over the disbelieving people] (al-Baqarah 285–286). Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: 'I have granted that to you and to your Ummah.'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Suddenly Jibra'il took hold of me and I came near to Sidrat al-Muntaha. Then he made me stop beneath it, and afterwards brought me into Jannat al-Ma'wa, and there, O Ali, I saw my own dwelling and your dwelling. While Jibra'il was speaking with me, suddenly a light from the light of Allah lifted me up, and I looked through a tiny opening like the eye of a needle, just as I had done the first time. My Lord, the Lord of Majesty, called me and said: 'O Muhammad!' I said: 'Here I am, O my Lord, and O my Allah, and O my Master!' He said: 'My mercy toward you and your progeny has outstripped My wrath. You are the chosen one of My creation. You are My trustee, My beloved, and My messenger. By My might and My majesty, if all My creatures were to come to Me and for a single moment complain about you, or find fault with you or with those whom I have chosen from your progeny, I would cast them all into the fire of Hell and it would not matter to Me at all. O Muhammad! Ali is Amir al-Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful) and the master of the messengers. He stands at the head of the noble and pure ones on their way to Allah's Paradise full of bounty. He is the father of your grandsons — those two who are the masters of the youths of My Paradise, who will be killed unjustly in My path.' Then He made the prayer obligatory upon me, and what Allah, Blessed and Exalted, willed [was as it was], and the first time I had been close to Him by the measure that the string of the bow is close to the wood on the two sides of the bow. This is the meaning of the word of Allah: فَکَانَ قَابَ قَوسَیْنِ أَو أَدْنَی [So he was the measure of two bows or closer still].

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: When I was taken up on the Mi'raj, I reached the presence of my Lord at the distance of two bows or nearer, and I heard a voice from my Lord: 'O Muhammad, from among those who are with you on the earth, whom do you love?' I said: 'My Lord! Whomever You love and whomever You command me to love, I love.' He said: 'O Muhammad! Love Ali, for indeed I love him, and I love whoever loves him.' And when I returned to the fourth heaven, Jibra'il came to meet me and said to me: 'What did the Lord of Might say to you, and what did you say to Him?' So I said: 'O my beloved Jibra'il! He said such and such, and I said such and such.' Then he (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Then Jibra'il wept and said: By the One who sent you with the truth as a prophet! If the people of the earth loved Ali (peace be upon him) the way the people of the heavens love him, Allah would not have created a Hellfire in which to punish anyone.'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "On the night I was taken to the heavens and I reached a place where the distance was two bow-lengths or less, Allah revealed to me: 'O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)! Who is the most beloved of My creation to you?' I said: 'My Lord, You know best.' He, the Mighty and Majestic, said: 'I know best, but I want to hear it from your tongue.' I said: 'My cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).' Allah revealed to me: 'Look.' I looked and suddenly saw Ali (peace be upon him) standing with me, even though I had pierced through the veils of the heavens. Ali (peace be upon him) was standing with his head raised to the heavens, listening to what Allah was saying. And I fell down in prostration before my Lord."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): فَکانَ قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [So he was the measure of two bows or closer still] — meaning the distance between the speech of Allah and the hearing of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was like the distance between the string of a bow and its wood.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "When I was taken to the heavens, I reached the place of Sidrat al-Muntaha, and suddenly one of its leaves was casting shade over an entire nation, and I was near my Lord; the distance was two bow-lengths or less."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): ثُمَّ دَنا فتدانا فَکانَ قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ [Then he drew near and came closer, so he was the measure of two bows] — meaning the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was as close to Allah as the distance between the grip of a bow and its two ends; rather even closer than that. Here Allah revealed to His servant what He had to reveal. (An-Najm/10).

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): When I ascended to the heavens on the night of Miraj, the distance was two bow-lengths or less. Allah revealed to me what He had to reveal, and then said: "O Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), convey my greetings to Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), the Commander of the Faithful, and know that I have not titled anyone before him with this title (Amir al-Muminin), nor will I title anyone with it after him."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): فَکانَ قابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [So he was the measure of two bows or closer still] — the distance was about two cubits or less than that. (A cubit is the distance from the tip of the elbow to the tip of the middle finger of a person.)

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ibn Abbas said: I heard the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) saying to Ali (peace be upon him): "Allah existed, and He created me and you from a single essence, from the clay of Illiyyin, and blended us with that light, and immersed us in all the lights and rivers of Paradise. Then He created Adam and placed that clay and light within his being. After creating Adam, He brought forth his children and offspring from his being and took a covenant from them, and they acknowledged His Lordship. The first ones to acknowledge His Lordship were you and I, and the rest of the prophets (peace be upon them) [acknowledged it] according to their station and nearness to Allah." Allah said: "O Muhammad and Ali! You bore witness and acknowledged, and you outstripped all creation in obedience to Me. In My prior knowledge you were likewise. You two are the chosen ones from among My creation, and the Imams (peace be upon them) are from your lineage and your followers. Thus did I create you." Then the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Ali (peace be upon him), the clay and essence were in the loins of Adam (peace be upon him), and my light and your light were on his forehead. This light continued to pass to the foreheads of the chosen prophets until finally both the essence and the light reached the loins of Abd al-Muttalib, and then it was divided into two parts. Allah created me from one half of it and made me a prophet and messenger, and He created you from the other half and made you a successor, executor and Imam. When [during the Miraj] I reached from the greatness and majesty of my Lord within the distance of a bowstring or less, He said to me: 'Who among all My servants is most obedient to you?' I said: 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).' He said: 'Appoint him as your successor and executor, for I have appointed this station for him. I wrote your name and his name upon My Throne before I created human beings, out of love that I have for you and for those who love you, who show you affection, and who obey you. Whoever loves you and obeys you is counted with Me among the near ones, and whoever denies your wilayah and deviates from the door of your house is counted with Me among the misguided disbelievers.'" Then the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "In that case, who can create separation between me and you, when you and I are from a single light and a single essence? You are more deserving of me than all people in this world and the hereafter. Your children are my children, your followers are my followers, and your friends are my friends. And tomorrow you will be with me in Paradise."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Hisham ibn Hakam said: I said to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): 'For what reason are seven takbirs at the opening of the prayer more excellent, and why in ruku is it said سُبْحَانَ رَبِّیَ الْعَظِیمِ وَ بِحَمْدِهِ [Glory be to my Lord the Great, and praise be to Him], and in sujud سُبْحَانَ رَبِّیَ الْأَعْلَی وَ بِحَمْدِهِ [Glory be to my Lord the Most High, and praise be to Him]?' The Imam said: 'O Hisham, indeed Allah, Blessed and Exalted, created the heavens as seven layers, and the earth also as seven layers, and He set the veils as seven. When He took His noble Prophet on the night journey and that noble one drew as near to his Lord as قَابِ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [the measure of two bows or closer still], He lifted for him one of the veils, and at once the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said takbir and began to utter the words which are said at the opening of the prayer. And when the second veil was drawn aside for him, he said takbir; and thus it continued until he reached the seven veils and they were drawn aside, and he said seven takbirs. For this reason seven takbirs at the opening of the prayer became recommended. And when he became mindful of the majesty of his Lord, his shoulders trembled, so he leaned upon his knees and submitted: سُبْحَانَ رَبِّیَ الْعَظِیمِ وَ بِحَمْدِهِ [Glory be to my Lord the Great, and praise be to Him]. And when he raised his head from ruku and stood up, he looked to a point higher than the previous place, so he fell to the ground and placed his face on the earth and submitted: سُبْحَانَ رَبِّیَ الْأَعْلَی وَ بِحَمْدِهِ [Glory be to my Lord the Most High, and praise be to Him]. And when he had said this dhikr seven times, the awe departed from him and he became calm; and for this reason the saying of these dhikrs seven times became the sunnah.'

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): When He took His noble Prophet on the night journey and that noble one drew as near to his Lord as قَابِ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [the measure of two bows or closer still], He lifted for him one of the veils, and at once the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said takbir.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): کَانَ قَابَ قَوسَیْنِ أَو أَدْنَی [He was the measure of two bows or closer still] — that is, the distance between the speech of Allah and the hearing of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was as the distance between the string of a bow and its wood.

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): I am the son of the one who rose and ascended high, and passed beyond Sidrat al-Muntaha, and drew as near to his Lord as قَابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنی [the measure of two bows or closer still].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): A Jewish man questioned the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) about the miracle of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) compared with the miracles of the other prophets (peace be upon them), and said: "The wind was placed at Sulayman's disposal, so that in one day it would travel the distance of a month and in one night the distance of a month." Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "That is so; and to Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) something better than this has been granted. In one night he was taken from al-Masjid al-Haram to al-Masjid al-Aqsa — a journey of one month — and he was raised into the malakut (dominion) of the heavens, a distance of fifty thousand years, and traversed it in less than a third of a night, until he reached the leg of the Throne. He drew near through knowledge and attained the station of nearness, and a green carpet from Paradise was spread out for him, and the light dazzled his sight; he beheld the greatness of Allah with the eye of the heart, but not with the physical eye, until the distance between him [and Jibra'il] was the measure of two bow-lengths or less."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the refutation of those who deny the Mi'raj (ascension), Allah the Exalted says: وَ هُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَی * ثُمَّ دَنَا فَتَدَلَّی * فَکَانَ قَابَ قَوْسَیْنِ أَوْ أَدْنَی * فَأَوْحَی إِلَی عَبْدِهِ مَا أَوْحَی [And he was in the highest horizon. Then he drew near and came down, so he was the measure of two bows or closer still. Then He revealed to His servant what He revealed] ... عِنْدَهَا جَنَّةُ الْمَأْوَی [with it is the Garden of Refuge]; and Sidrat al-Muntaha is in the seventh heaven.