Sheik Nazim with his beloved wife Hajja Amina

THE SECRET

of the

MIRACULOUS MIHRAJ

The Prophet (sal) went on the Mihraj (Ascent).  For what purpose did he go on this Mihraj? For what purpose was this miraculous mihraj? The purpose was to show to the whole nation of Muhammed that by following the Prophet (sal) that they also should be able to reach to it.  When Jibril (alai) brought Buraq u Sheriff to the Prophet (sal), the Prophet asked him ?Is this only for me or also for my Ummah (nation)?.  Jibril answered ?It is for you and also for your nation and the only condition is that they should follow in your steps, and they should also be able to reach to this.?

The Buraq that was brought to the Prophet (sal) was in a grass field in Paradise, and there were so many other Buraqs with it.  But this one was specially taken to the Prophet (sal) because when it heard the name of  the Prophet Muhammed (sal),  ?Ya Muhammed? ? Oh Muhammed (sal), a feeling of love came over that Buraq and it fell in love with the person who was named Muhammed.  It stopped eating because of this and also started crying.  Then Jibril (alai) gave it good tidings and took it to the Prophet (sal).

To the Prophet?s (sal) question as to whether Mihraj (the ascension) was only for him, Jibril answered ?It is for your Ummah also and there are Buraqs waiting for them also.  Those who are following you may also join after you.  If they do not follow you they shall always remain on earth and under the ground.? When all the Sahaba reached to their destinations through the heavens everyone else also reached to their heavenly stations.

                    The Mihraj of the Prophet Muhammed (Sal)

                          (from the Dalail-i-Khairat Sharhi of Kara Da?ud, d. 1541)

 The 178th name of the Prophet on whom be Peace: Sahib-ul-Mi?raj, he who was granted ascent to heaven. Oh Allah, Thy Benediction be upon the owner of this name. The word ?Mihraj? signifies an instrument facilitating ascent, such as a flight of stairs. Our Holy Prophet (Sal) ascended to the heavens on a stairway of precious gems beginning at al-Quds (Jerusalem) during his lifetime and in his pure physical form. Among all the prophets and messengers, it was a privilege reserved for the Holy Prophet (Sal) alone to be granted such an experience. Therefore the appellation ?Sahib-ul-Mihraj? was appended to his name.

Now we shall set forth in full the account of the Mihraj that the Holy Prophet (Sal) was honoured to experience.

When the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) had reached his fortieth year, he was sent with mercy for the whole world and the prophet and Messenger to all people. He began to preach his message and invite people to faith. It was in the twelfth year of his calling, on the twenty-sixth day of the month of Rajab that the Prophet (Sal) went to the Baytullah (the Kaaba) and sat by himself in front of one of the pillars. There he engaged in remembrance and meditation of the Lord Almighty. Just then, Abu Jahl came in to meet with his helpers and henchmen. He saw Muhammed (Sal) sitting there all on his own, engaged in the worship of his Lord. Seeing him thus, he thought to himself, ?I will play a prank,? and going up close to him, he bent down and asked him, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), are you a Prophet?? Muhammed (Sal) answered him directly, saying, ?Yes, I am a Prophet.? Abu Jahl went on to say, ?How can you be a prophet whilst you sit here all alone? Where is your following, where are your helpers? Had there been any necessity for a new prophet, the call to prophethood certainly would have come to me. Look at my following, look at the number of my retainers!? And, striking an arrogant pose, he turned around and left. After Abu Jahl had gone, another one of his party came by with his group of followers. He, too, approached the Holy Prophet (Sal) sitting there on his own, with the intention of doing something hurtful to Muhammed (Sal). He spoke as Abu Jahl had spoken, and then he turned and left. In this way, no less than seven of the notables of Quraysh came by with their accomplices and they all spoke the same words as Abu Jahl, as if they had previously devised a plan. As a result, the Holy Prophet (Sal) became very dejected and his spirits fell.  He thought to himself, ?It is now twelve years that I am calling them to Islam and to the belief in the Unity of Allah Almighty. However, far from accepting the Truth, they don?t even understand the concept of the Messenger. A Prophet has no need of a following of servants and retainers. All that is needful to a prophet is Divine Revelation and the order to make known His Divine Command.? Thus the Holy Prophet (Sal) grew sad.

That night was the twenty-seventh night of the month of Rajab, a Monday night. He proceeded to the house of Umm Hani who was the daughter of Abu Talib, the sister of Imam Ali. She lived in her father?s house, which was situated between Safa and Marwa. The Prophet (Sal) arrived at her house, and finding him downcast and dispirited, she asked him for the reason of this. The Prophet (Sal) explained to her what had happened and why he felt as he did. Now, Umm Hani was an intelligent and resourceful woman. She comforted the Holy Prophet (Sal) and said, ?These men undoubtedly know that as a Prophet of Allah bringing the message of Truth you are not in need of servants and accomplices. But as they are a stubborn, envious and ill-tempered lot, they spoke these words with the sole purpose of insulting you and wounding your spirit.? These words served to comfort the Prophet (Sal) somewhat, but he still remained distraught. It is reported that soon after praying the night prayer (Salat-ul-Isha), he fell asleep in Umm Hani?s house in a saddened state of mind.

Then the Lord of all Created Beings who had created Rasulullah (Sal) before anything else, destining him to be a Messenger of many miracles and gifts of mercy to all the people in the world and endowing him with perfection and the ability to awaken love in the hearts of men; the Lord Almighty whose Glory reaches from end to boundless end, other than whom there is no God, in His aspect of Majesty and Might addressed Himself to the angel Jibreel, saying, ?My Beloved whom I have chosen from amongst all My Creation, the Best of them all, lies  sleeping in the house of Umm Hani, aggrieved by the hurtful words of the unbelievers. Let your piety and obedience be an invitation to My Beloved. Go, adorn your dazzling wings with the gems of paradise and enjoy the dignity of being at his service. Go and tell Mikhail to leave off the weighing out of provisions this night, tell Israfil to abandon his trumpet for one hour, and tell Israil for this one night to refrain from taking any souls. Tell the angels of the lights and luminaries to festoon the heavens with lamps; tell Ridwan to embellish the gardens of Paradise, and admonish the angels to keep the gate to the pits of Hell firmly fastened and the demons of Hell not to move from their places. Tell the Huris to bedeck themselves and to set about scattering precious gems, preparing all the Paradise mansions. Say to the Throne-bearing angels: ?Wrap the sphere of the skies in its blessed robes and equip yourselves each with seventy thousand angels.? You, Jibreel , repair to Paradise and there select a Buraq steed, then descend to the face of the earth. All the punishment in the graves shall be lifted for the duration of this night. Go to My Beloved who fell asleep of sad and dejected mind in Umm Hani?s house, and be his companion. Awaken him gently and explain to him that this night he is to be shown his great destiny and the station of nearness (qurb) that excels all other stations of elevation and honour. Invite him to come along with you.?

Jibreel then went to the Paradise gardens where he beheld forty thousand Buraqs as they were grazing. Each one had the name of Muhammed (Sal) written across its forehead. Among them was one Buraq, which seemed sad and dejected; its head was bowed and tears were streaming from its eyes. Jibreel approached that Buraq without hesitation and asked him the reason for its distress. The Buraq then said, ?As I was prancing about in Paradise Gardens, a voice suddenly came to my ear, which said, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal)!? No sooner had I heard this name spoken than I became enamoured of the bearer of this name. For forty thousand years now I have been burning with the fire of separation and the hope of attaining union. Ever since I am weeping, in the sway of intense longing.?

Jibreel  had pity on the state of this Buraq and said to him, ?Your beloved Muhammed (Sal) has this very night been invited to ascend to the Heavens. He needs to be transported from the Masjid-ul-Haram (Mecca) to the Masjid-ul-Aqsa (Jerusalem) by a Buraq steed. It is you I will select, so come now and attain fulfillment.? Then he saddled the Buraq with a saddle of light and placed a bit in his mouth of green chrysolite. Next he went to the chamber, where the spiritual king of this world and the world to come, the Messenger to both mankind and Jinn, lay sleeping.

Now, the compilers of Hadith have narrated in six collections of Hadith the story of the Prophet?s (Sal) Mihraj as it was told to them by no less than twenty of the venerable companions who heard it as the King of Prophets (Sal) told it to them himself. This then was his narrative:

?I had fallen asleep in Umm Hani?s house, my eyes were closed, but my heart was wakeful. Suddenly, I heard the voice of Jibreel in my ear, and rising from my slumber, I sat up, finding myself face to face with the angel Jibreel. He spoke to me, saying, ?The Lord Almighty sends you His greetings of peace and invites you to come with me. I will carry you along, for the Lord wishes to shower upon you the diversity of His munificence. Of those that have gone before you, none has ever attained to such munificence, nor will any who are to come after you ever attain to it.?

?I rose and wished to perform my ablutions. Water was ordered to be brought from the heavenly stream of Kawthar. Before I had even uncovered my hands and feet, preparing to take ablution, Ridwan had already brought two jugs full of water from the stream of Kawthar in pitchers of red ruby. He also brought a bowl of green emerald that had four corners to it. In each corner there was a gem that shone like the sun and lit up the night sky. I washed with this blessed water, and they clad me in a wrap of pure light and set upon my head a quilted turban of light.?

?The story of this turban is this: eight thousand years before the creation of Adam, the angel Ridwan wound this turban in my name. Since that time up until now, forty thousand angels stand about this turban reciting praises and glorifying the Lord. After every single one of their glorifications, they recite blessings (Salat-wa-Salam) upon me. That turban has forty thousand folds, and in every one of these folds there are four lines of writing.

In the first line is written: Muhammed (Sal) is the Messenger of Allah.

In the second line is written: Muhammed (Sal) is the Prophet of Allah                                                                                                            

In the third line is written: Muhammed (Sal) is the Beloved of Allah.

In the fourth line is written: Muhammed (Sal) is the Friend of Allah.

?After this, Jibreel covered my back with a cape of light and fastened around my waist a belt of red rubies. He placed in my hand a whip made of green emeralds, which was embellished with four hundred pearls, each of which shone like the morning star. He clad my feet in a pair of slippers crafted from green emerald. Thereafter he took me by the hand and led me to the Haram.?

In another narration, the Prophet (Sal) continues his account as follows:

?I made my ablution with the waters of the Zamzam well. Then I circled the Holy House seven times and prayed two Rak?ats at the Maqam Ibrahim. I came to the place called the Khatm and there sat down for a bit to rest. While I was sitting there, Jibreel split my chest asunder and brought two large basins filled with knowledge and wisdom, respectively. Mikha?il brought three basins full of Zamzam water wherein they washed my entrails and my bosom. Then he opened up my heart and took from it the small black clump of clotted blood, while saying, ?This bit of clotted blood is the reason why men feel fear when they behold an awesome sight. I have taken it from you, for tonight you will behold the Heavens and the Lote Tree, the Divine Throne and Divine Court and the many strange and wonderful things they contain, and many great angelic creatures. Therefore I have cleansed you of this clot, so that you might gaze at whomever you will and speak what needs to be said without fear or constraint.? He then took from the basin the knowledge and wisdom contained in it and placed it within my heart. He tucked it in and closed my chest again, so that there remained no trace or scar.?

?Jibreel then took me by the hand and led me to a place outside of Mecca. I saw there the other great archangels, Mikhail, Israfil and Israil, each surrounded by seventy thousand angels of their company. When they beheld me, they all stood to respectful attention and I gave them my greetings of peace. In answer to my greetings, they proclaimed the boundless graces of the Lord.?

]?Presently, Jibreel said to me, ?Oh Prophet of Allah (Sal), I have brought you this Buraq from the Gardens of Paradise. Mount it now, for the Lord on High awaits your coming.? I turned and saw the Buraq, which was as bright as the sun and as swift as a flash of lightning. As soon as he lifted his foot to take a step he had already reached as far as the eye could see. In addition, this Buraq had two wings by his side, which he used whenever he wished to fly through the air.?

The wise and learned have this to say about the Buraq: his body is smaller than that of a mule, but larger than that of a donkey. He speaks pure, intelligible Arabic. The Lord has created each of his limbs from a different set of precious materials. His hooves are made of corals; his feet are of gold. His chest is of red ruby stone, while his back is made pearls. The wings at his side are of ruby red. His tail resembles the tail of a camel. According to a different narration, his tail resembles that of a peacock and is of extreme comeliness. His mane was that of a horse while his feet resembled those of a camel. He was saddled with a saddle from Paradise, and his stirrups were of red ruby, beset with jewels.

Our Holy Prophet?s (Sal) narration continues as follows,

?The angel Jibreel held the stirrups for me, saying, ?Mount!? As I made ready to mount him, the Buraq stirred restively. Jibreel addressed him, ?Oh Buraq, are you not ashamed of yourself?  How dare you dare behave with such insolence?  By the Grace of Allah Almighty whose Glory is vast and whose bounties are all-encompassing, beside whom there is no other Lord, never will you see a rider of greater merit and excellence!? At the angel?s words, the Buraq blushed with shame and began to tremble all over. Large drops of sweat trickled from his brow and he said, ?Oh Jibreel, I have a request to make, and it was from this urgency that I behaved thus, not because I am reluctant to fulfill my duty. Now you have put me to shame.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) then turned to the Buraq and asked him what his request was and how it might be fulfilled. ?Oh my Prophet (Sal),? replied the Buraq, ?I have been stricken with love for you since before time began. For untold eons, I was immersed in yearning, submerged in an agony of love. Now, by the Grace of Allah, I have been granted the boon of beholding your light and perceived your blessed scent. My love now has blossomed forth and increased thousandfold. On the Day of Gathering, when you rise from your blessed resting-place, you will be brought to the place of gathering on a Buraq steed. The request of my love is this: that you will mount no other steed than me on that tremendous day, thereby completing my happiness and filling my heart with the light of joy.? The Holy Prophet (Sal) answered and said, ?I granted the Buraq his request and promised that I would mount no other than him on that day.?

After hearing from the Buraq that he would be brought to the Site of Judgement on the back of a Buraq, the Prophet (Sal), the Glory of all Creation, the Quintessence of all Being grew thoughtful as he pondered the fate and state of his nation on that day. The Lord Almighty who is aware of every hidden thing then made the angel Jibreel ask Muhammed (Sal) the reason for his sudden sadness. The Holy Prophet (Sal) replied, ?I have been informed by the Buraq of the honour that will be shown to me on that mighty day in that I will be fetched and mounted on a Buraq. It occurs to me to reflect on the state of my nation on that day: they are but weak, far from perfect, sinful mortals; how, on the Day of Judgement, will they go on foot to the place of assembly which is at a distance of fifty thousand years bearing the weight of all their sins? How will they manage to cross the bridge of Sirat, which is a stretch of three thousand years? wayfaring??

?I was then informed by Divine inspiration that Divine Grace would reach every single one on that day. Just as the Lord would send a Buraq to fetch me from my grave, so every single soul belonging to my nation would be sent a Buraq to bring him to the Site of Judgement. They would cross the Bridge of Sirat in a flash and they would traverse a road of fifty thousand years as if in a single moment. ?This is Our Favour and Grant of Kindness to your nation, oh Muhammed (Sal),? I was told, ?therefore, let your mind be easy on this account.?

There is a verse in the Holy Qur?an relating to these events:

On that day that We shall muster the godfearing

to the All-Merciful with pomp..

(Mary,85)

The Holy Prophet (Sal) then continued in his narrative, ?Learning of the promise of the Lord?s Favour and Kindness, I mounted upon the Buraq filled with joy. Jibreel and a following of seventy thousand angels were at my right stirrup, Mikha?il with seventy thousand angels was at my left stirrup, and every one of these angels held in his hand a candelabrum of light. Behind me went Israfil with seventy thousand angels and on his shoulder he bore the saddle cloth of the Buraq. I begged his pardon for its great size and that he was made to carry it, since it nearly covered him entirely, but he answered me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), how many thousands of years have I been praying for the favour of being permitted to bear this weight of your Buraq?s covering! At last the All-Gracious Lord has heard my pleas and granted me this favour!? ?Why did you pray for this?? I asked him. Israfil  answered, ?For how many thousands of years did I worship the Divine Throne! At last there came a voice addressing me, saying, ?What is it that you long for? Your prayer has been accepted.? I replied, ?Oh my Lord, when his time on earth has come, I pray that I might be granted one hour in the service of the intercessor for his sinful nation, whose name the King of the Day of Judgement has deigned to write on the base of the Divine Throne beside His own Blessed Name.? To this the Almighty Lord replied, ?I grant you your prayer. There will come one night during his lifetime in which I will grant him the experience of My Nearness. I will bring him from his lowly station on earth up to the highest heaven. I will open for him the gates of My treasure houses with the Key of Witnessing. I will lead him from Mecca to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis (Jerusalem), and until he arrives there, you will have the honour of carrying the saddle cloth of his mount.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) then continued, ?That night, the Buraq?s feet did not touch the ground. All the way from Mecca to Jerusalem were spread the fine, flowered silks from Paradise, on which the Buraq trod. On my way, suddenly one Ifrit (demon) appeared before me and leaned towards me, with flames leaping from his mouth. Jibreel then said to me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), let me teach you a few words to say, which will extinguish the fire of this Ifrit and undo his existence.? ?Do teach me, please!? I replied and he taught me these words:

A?udhu bi-wajhi-llahi-l-karim

wa bi-kalimati-llahi-t-tammat-allati la yujawizuhunna

barrun wa la fajir,

min sharri ma yanzilu min-as-sama?i wa ma ya?ruju fiha

wa min sharri ma yakhruju minha

wa min fitan-il-layli wa-n-nahari

wa min tawariq-il-layli wa-n-nahari

illa tariqan yatruku bi-khayrin,

ya Rahman!

(I seek refuge in the gracious nature of my Lord Allah, and in the perfection of the Divine Word which neither the righteous nor the transgressor is able to breach, from the evil which descends from the sky and that which rises up to it; and from the evil which comes forth from the sky; and from the tribulations of the night and the day, and from all the calamities of night and day, except for those that result in benefit, oh Lord of Mercy!)

?When this Du?a was recited, the fire of this Ifrit died down and the creature ceased to exist.?

?A voice then came from my right side, saying, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), stay for a moment and linger; for there is something I wish to ask you...? This voice called me three times, but I paid it no heed and went on. Then I heard a voice calling me from my left side, and it said, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), wait awhile, I need to ask you something.? But again I listened not to it and passed on. Then I beheld a woman, magnificently bedecked in costly robes and lavishly bejeweled. When I passed close by her, I saw that she was a very old woman. Thrice she spoke to me, saying, ?Stop!? but I heeded not her call and passed on. Ahead of me I saw an old man, bent over his staff and trembling in every limb. He, too, requested me thrice to stop and stay with him. ?Look at me and pity my condition,? he said, ?let me enjoy your beauty, for I have something I want to ask you.? But I passed him by, not heeding his pleas. After a while, I beheld a fresh youth of surpassing beauty whose face shone with light, ?Stay, oh Muhammed (Sal),? he addressed me, ?for I have things to ask of you.?

?At his words, the Buraq halted, and I gave him Salams. After responding to my greetings, he said, ?Good tidings to you! All good is in you alone and in your nation.? To this I rejoined, ?Al-hamdulillah!? and Jibreel echoed my words. I then asked him who these people were whom I had just seen. He answered, ?The voice coming from the right was the voice of the Jews. Had you stopped there, your nation would have been overpowered by them, and reduced to contempt after your time. The voice coming from your left was that of the Christians; had you paused to stop there, your nation would have been overpowered by the Christian peoples after your time and subjugated by them. The woman you saw was this world, the dunya.  She appears finely decked out and attractive to those who wish to possess her. Her decorations and fine robes are meant to fool and deceive mankind. The fact that she appears to be an old woman indicates that the Last Day has drawn nigh. Had you been swayed by her appeal, your whole nation would have become obsessed with the goods of this world and would have worshipped them. The old man you saw was the accursed devil, Shaytan himself. He knows how kind and merciful you are by nature, so he tried to ensnare you by appearing pitiful to you. It was nothing but a guile to stay you. Had you been fooled by his words, your nation would never have been saved from his wiles, up to the very last drop of their blood, he would have gained the upperhand over very many of them. As for the young lad you saw, he is the religion of Islam. It was there that you stopped; therefore, after your time, your entire nation will be safe from the machinations of the enemy and the religion of Islam will endure.?

?You had been concerned with a number of questions regarding your nation, such as ?What will happen when they go out at night into the desert and run into a company of malevolent Jinn? What will be their state after I am gone?? Allah Almighty who knows all that is hidden and what is manifest then made that Ifrit appear to you and taught you the means of salvation. After your time, there will be no religion that will overcome this religion of Islam. Muslim forces will overcome the nations of the Jews and the Christians. The nation of Muhammed (Sal) will live according to the Divine Law of the Shari?a. Thus, in the final end, they will be saved from the wiles of Shaitan and reach to safety. Islam will remain on earth until the Day of Judgement. All that you have seen are signs from Allah who wishes to awaken you and relieve you of your fears and doubts.? So Jibreel explained to me these visions.?

?After some time we reached a place where date palms were plentiful. Jibreel  told me to dismount there and to pray, so I did. When I had finished praying, Jibreel asked me whether I knew this place where I had prayed and he told me that it was called Tayyiba (which is one of the names for Medina-t-ul-Munawwara). And he told me that before long I would migrate to this place. Next we came to a place, which was all white. Again Jibreel told me to dismount and to pray there. Then he asked me if I knew the place, and when I did not he explained that this was the tree beneath which Musa had prayed when he came to the land of Madian. When Musa was fleeing from Pharaoh, he came to this land. Outside the city of Madian he saw some shepherds watering their flocks, and he saw two girls who were standing at a distance from the well, waiting for their turn. Musa felt sorry for the girls and went up to them to inquire why they waited. Learning their story, he said to himself, ?Herein lies great reward,? and disregarding his own fatigue, he went and watered their sheep for them. Then he withdrew to a tree and prayed beneath it. This very tree is the tree you have now prayed beneath, oh Muhammed (Sal).?

?Afterwards we came to yet another place, and Jibreel said, ?Dismount, and pray here!? When I had done so and again did not know where it was that I had just prayed, he told me, ?This is Tur-i-Sina, Mount Sinai, where the Almighty Lord revealed Himself to His Prophet Musa and spoke to him, in answer to his supplication.?

?We continued apace and in time reached a grand mansion where again the angel bade me pray, explaining that this was the village where the Prophet Isa was born. When I had done praying, I beheld a group of people who were planting a field.  No sooner had they planted a seed than it yielded seven hundredfold. I asked the angel who these people were, and he told me, ?These are the people who expend of their wealth in the way of Allah.?

?Then again, I beheld another group of persons, whose heads were being smashed with stones by the angels, but they grew back instantly, only to be crushed again. ?Who are these people?? I asked the angel Jibreel. He said, ?They are those of your nation who abandoned the practice of prayer, and those who performed it negligently in that when rising from the position of Ruk?u or Sajda, they did not bother to straighten up completely, but fused the various postures and phases of the ritual prayer in heedless haste.?

?I then saw a certain group of people who were altogether hungry and naked. Around them grew weeds of fire and the angels were driving them to eat those fiery weeds just as animals are driven to pasture. I asked who they were and the angel said, ?They are those belonging to your nation who did not give the Zakat they were obliged to pay, and who had no compassion with the poor and destitute, the homeless widows and orphans.?

?Then I saw another people: to one side there was a spread of the choicest foods anyone could dream of, to the other there was some dreadfully smelling, rotten meat. These people never looked or turned to the delicious foods, but ate only of the carrion meat. ?Who are they?? I asked. ?They are men and women of your nation who engaged in all manner of unlawful sexual activities, while lawful spouses were available to them.?

?After these, I saw a group of men piling up wooden logs. They were trying to lift them up, but they failed at every attempt. Their strength was simply insufficient, yet they kept up their futile efforts. ?And who are they?? I asked. Jibreel told me, ?They are people of your nation who were engrossed in the affairs of this world (dunya). Whereas they had more than they could possibly use up, they were forever dissatisfied and tried to amass more and more. They are in love with the world and what it has to offer and they are constantly seeking to increase their share.?

?Then I saw a great stone, which had a little hole in it. Out of the hole came a snake and began to grow. Then it turned around and tried to go back through the little hole, but, having grown so large, it could not fit through it, and began to circle round and round the stone in confusion. I asked the Angel what this was, and Jibreel told me, ?This stone symbolizes the body of your nation, and the small hole within it signifies their mouths. As for the snake, it signifies all the lies, and bad, forbidden things, gossip and slanders that issues from their mouths. Once these things have emerged from their mouths, it is impossible to swallow them again, and they will be punished for these things in this life and the life hereafter. They will hear worse than this and will be called to account. So exhort your nation to mind their words, and beware of speaking evil and hurtful things, so that they might find salvation.?

?Then I saw a person drawing water from a well. With great effort he drew the bucket up to the rim of the well, but he found no water in it, an empty bucket was all he got for his trouble. I asked about him and Jibreel told me, ?This is the condition of those who performed good works without a pure intention. Their aim was not Allah alone but the acclaim of men. Hence, though they put themselves through great trouble in their worldly lives, they reap no reward for it in the afterlife, but expose themselves only to greater troubles.?

?I saw another people bearing great loads upon their backs. Although they could hardly carry the weight, they said to their companions, ?Load me up with more!? ?Who are they?? I asked the angel Jibreel who answered me, ?These are the people who defrauded goods left in their safekeeping. Despite being weighed down with such great weight, they seek to increase their wealth by unrighteous methods.?

?Then I saw another group of people whose tongues and lips were distended and hung down loosely. Angels with shears of fire came and cut off these flapping appendages. But whenever they cut them, they would immediately grow back as they were before, and the angels would resume their cutting. ?Who are these?? I asked Jibreel  and he  replied, ?These are such persons as denounced their own people to their rulers and tyrants, the sycophants and toadies who upheld all their commander?s lies rather than trying to save their people from the injustice committed by their rulers.?

?Then I saw a people whose flesh was being cut by the angels and fed to them. ?Eat!? the angels ordered them. When they couldn?t do this from the disgust they felt, the angels whipped them and ordered them again, ?Eat!? until they did so. ?Who are these?? I asked, and Jibreel told me, ?These are people who spread calumnies about their fellowmen.?

?Next I beheld a people whose faces were black and whose eyes were blue. Their lower lips reached down to their feet, while their upper lip was affixed to their forehead. Blood and pus dripped from their mouths. In one hand they held a carafe full of fire, in the other hand a glass of fire. The blood and pus oozing from their mouths drips into the bottle and begins to boil. The angels order them to drink this, and force them to do so. But every time they try to fill their glasses and drink from them, the liquid boils so strongly and its stench is so disgusting that they cannot stand it and begin to bray like donkeys. The angels then beat them and make them drink it by force. ?Who are these people?? I asked Jibreel. ?These are the wine-drinkers,? he replied.?

?Then I saw another group of people whose tongues stuck out from the backs of their necks and whose faces had become like the faces of pigs. From above and from below they were being whipped and beaten. ?Who are these people?? I asked, and Jibreel told me, ?These are people who bore false witness and gave false testimony, and in so doing wronged the servants of Allah.?

?Another group appeared whose stomachs were so bloated that they hung pendulously down and whose hands and feet were bound and fettered. They could not rise to their feet because of the weight of their stomachs, and fell rolling upon the ground. ?Who are these people?? I asked Jibreel. ?These are people from your nation your practiced usury and misappropriated other people?s property.?

?Next I passed some women whose faces were blackened and who were given robes of fire to wear. Angels were beating them with maces of fire so that they howled like dogs. I asked Jibreel who they were and he said, ?These are the women who committed adultery and who caused their husbands pain and torment.?

?Next I came upon a group that was being slaughtered by angels with knives of fire. They came back to life, only to have their throats cut anew. ?Who are they?? I asked Jibreel. ?Those are people belonging to your nation who killed a soul without justification.?

?Then I came by a group of people who were suspended in mid-air while fire issued from their ears and noses and mouths. Each one of them was attended by two terrible, vengeful angels, and each angel held in his hand a fiery stick of seventy knots. With these they were beating them continuously, without stopping, while they recited this very significant Tasbih:

Qadir, Muqtadir, Subhanallah. Allah Almighty is the Mighty Avenger over His foes, Allah Almighty is the Most Powerful, Praised be He.

I asked Jibreel about these people and he told me, ?These are the people who outwardly confessed their faith, while in their hearts there was nothing but hypocrisy and disbelief.?

?Then I saw another group of people who were imprisoned in a valley of fire. They were being burnt to death, but they instantly came back to life, only to be burnt alive once more. Their punishment seemed very severe to me. ?Who are these people??  I asked the angel. ?These are people who failed to honour and obey their parents and who were rebellious and opposed them.?

?Next I came upon a people upon whose chests were placed bowls of fire, while the angels were beating them with big sticks. ?Who are these?? I asked, and Jibreel said, ?These are the musicians who played the lute and sang songs to the people.?

?Then I heard a terrible noise and asked what it was. Jibreel told me, ?A stone has fallen into the pit of Jahannam from its rim. It has been falling for three thousand years, and now it has hit the bottom. That was the noise you heard.?

About this stone there is the following narration: If a stone the size of a man?s head is rolled down from the earthly skies, it will fall down to earth in twenty-four hours, even though it falls a distance of five hundred years. Consider this distance and then consider how far a stone of that size must fall if it falls for three thousand years! That is the depth of the pit of Hellfire; therefore, take refuge in Allah from its raging fires.

The Prophet (Sal) continues:

?I then came to another valley from which issued the most noxious smells and dreadful sounds. ?What are these smells?? I asked, and Jibreel answered me, ?That is the stench of Hell. Listen to what it has to say!? I listened and this is what I heard: ?Oh my Lord, send to me those servants whom you promised to me. My chains, my spikes, my fetters, my Zakkum trees and boiling waters and cauldrons of pus are ready for them, and other punishments as well. My snakes and scorpions have become many, and my depths unfathomable. Send me the servants You have promised to me, that I may begin to punish them.? This was the reply that the Lord Almighty gave in answer to this request of Jahannam: ?Oh Jahannam, I leave up to you these works! I will leave to you all those who attribute partners to My Holy Name, who disbelieve in Me and My Prophets, all those who are wicked and villainous, be they male or female, and who disbelieve in the Day of Resurrection ? all those I shall throw into your fires!? Jahannam was pleased with the Lord?s promise and said, ?I am satisfied, oh my Lord!?

 ?After this we reached a valley in which blew a gentle breeze and sweet smells wafted all around. A pleasant and melodious air struck the ear. I asked, ?What is this most pleasing sound, where does it come from and what are these voices saying? What is this gentle wind and from where do these sweet smells come?? Jibreel then explained to me, ?This is the smell and the breeze of Paradise. Just listen to what it says, and you will understand.?

?The breeze from Paradise spoke as follows, ?Oh my Lord, send to me Thy servants whom Thou hast promised to me. All the delights I have in store for them are ready: the pavilions, fine and heavy brocades and silks, carpets and wraps, the pearls, jewels, silver and gold; the amber and musk; the spreads and jugs and vessels; all the varied foods of Paradise, the rivers of milk, honey, wine and water; the Huris, Ghilman and Wildan and all the unspeakable delights of Paradise are stocked in abundance and overflowing plenty. Send Thou Thy promised servants to me so that I might present them with these untold pleasures and shower them with gifts of goodness.?

?The Lord replied to this lovely supplication of the Janna: ?Oh Paradise, I shall send to you what you desire. I shall send you the men and women who believed in Me and worshipped Me alone, who recognized and honoured My Messengers, engaged in beneficial actions and associated no partners to My Divinity. Whoever is in fear of Me and My Punishment, him I shall free and make safe from it. Whoever turns to Me in his need and invokes Me in extremis, to his need I shall hearken and his intent I shall see through. Whoever grants Me a loan, I shall repay him manifold.[1] Whoever leaves all his cares up to Me, who entrusts all his affairs to Me, I shall take over for him all his labour. For I alone am Allah; there is no god beside Me. I fulfill all My vows; not do I turn back from My promises. All the believers have come to success. The Glory of the Creator outshines that of all His Creation.?

?To these words of Grace, Paradise replied, ?I am well satisfied, oh my Lord!?

Now the Holy Prophet (Sal) saw a great many wondrous sights on the way to the Masjid-al-Aqsa, but these are the best known of them all, and we shall content ourselves with this much.

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues his narrative:

?After this, we came to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis. There I saw the angels descending down to earth. They came to meet me and give me the glad tidings of abundant blessings and boons that the Lord of Holiness and Grace was to send to me. They greeted me with these words: ?Salams to you, who are the first, Salams to you, who are the last, Salams to you, who are the assembler of men.? With this address they honoured me greatly, still I asked Jibreel, ?What kind of greeting is this - the First, the Last, the Assembler of Men is the Lord of the Worlds, Allah Almighty?? Jibreel then told me, ?Oh Rasulullah, on the Day of Judgement your tomb will be the first to open up, and then that of your nation. Therefore, they addressed you as the Gatherer. On that day, you will be the first to make intercession and yours will be the first intercession to be accepted. Therefore, they addressed you as the First. Of all the prophets in this world, you are the last to be sent, therefore they addressed you as the Last.?

?I then passed by them and came to the gates of the Masjid-al-Aqsa. I dismounted from the Buraq and Jibreel tied him to a ring there. This was the ring to which the prophets and messengers always tied their mounts. The prophets and messengers came to greet me there and gave me much honour.?

Now there are two accounts of the meeting of the prophets and messengers with our Holy Prophet (Sal). One of them maintains that the Lord Almighty called the prophets back to life just for the sake of receiving the Holy Prophet Muhammed (Sal) with due formality; this implies that He resurrected them in their physical forms.  The other, more commonly accepted version is this: that He Almighty called only their unblemished spirits to this meeting with the Prophet Muhammed (Sal).

Let us continue with the Prophet Muhammed?s (Sal) narrative:

?They appeared to me as exceedingly great, honourable and enlightened personalities. I ask Jibreel who they were and he told me, ?They are your fathers and brothers, the prophets and messengers. Give them your Salams and salute them.? I greeted them accordingly and entered the Masjid-ul-Aqsa together with them. The Iqama was called and I thought to myself, ?I wonder who will be the Imam of this gathering?? While I was yet pondering this point, Jibreel  took me by the hand and said, ?Go ahead up front, you are to be Imam, for you are the most excellent and the most highly esteemed.? So I stepped out in front of them all and led all the prophets and messengers in a prayer of two Rak?ats.?

The scholars have proffered various views concerning this prayer, which was prayed here. If it were categorized as ?nafila? (supererogatory), this is contradicted by the fact that it was prayed in congregation, for it is not permissible for nafil-prayers to be prayed in congregation. It also could not have been the Isha prayer, for this consists of four Rak?ats, while only two Rak?ats were here prayed. The most authoritative opinion on this is the following: the prayer, which Rasulullah led in the Masjid-ul-Aqsa is of the same kind as that, which he led and prayed in each level of the heavens to which he ascended and the one he prayed in the Bayt-ul-Ma?mur and at the Sidratu-l-Muntaha, in which he led the entire assembly of angels, and it partakes of its characteristics. It was performed upon the command of the Lord of the Worlds, Allah Almighty.

To continue in the words of the Holy Prophet (Sal):

?After completing the prayer, I turned my back to the Mihrab and my face to the assembly of prophets, on all of whom be peace, and I spoke to them. Every single prophet engaged in praise of the special gifts the Highest Lord had graced him with, and I also joined in the praise of Allah who equipped me with such outstanding gifts.?

?Ibrahim praised the Lord and said, ?Praise and glory to the Highest of the High who made me His intimate friend and gave me great possessions.?

?Musa praised Him Almighty and said, ?Praise and glory be to Allah Almighty, the Highest of the High who spoke to me without intermediary, who caused Pharaoh and his henchmen to drown in the waters at my hand and who saved the Children of Israil. He made my nation a people guided to the Truth, judging by the Truth and striving for the good pleasure of Allah Almighty.?

?Next the Prophet Da?ud came forth and praised the Lord, saying, ?Praise and Glory to the Divine Lord who made me king over such a great realm and who revealed to me the scripture of the Zabur. Who made iron to be as soft as beeswax in my hand, and who placed the birds and the mountains under my command, so that they all joined me in the praises of the Lord, who gave me knowledge of the law and the gift of sweet speech.?

?After him, his son Sulayman stepped forth and glorified the Lord thus: ?Praise and Glory be to the Lord, the Mighty, the Enduring, who gave me power over the winds, and made the Jinn and the demons subservient to me, so that they did whatever I wished. He taught me the languages of the birds and the beasts and gave me greater excellence than many of His servants. He gave me such an incomparably vast kingdom, which no other mortal can ever hope to attain.?

?Then Isa stepped forth and glorified his Lord, saying, ?Praise and Glory be to the Almighty Creator who, as He created Adam from clay, brought me into existence without the contribution of an earthly father. He created me solely through His Creative Word, ?Be!? He taught me the wisdom of the Torah and the Injil and the knowledge of the law. He granted healing to the sick, seeing to the blind through my supplication, and by means of me, He brought the dead back to life. He made me and my mother safe from the wiles of the accursed devil and he lifted me up into the heavens in my living, physical body.?

?After they had spoken, I said to them, ?You have now all voiced your glorification of the Lord; it is now my turn to glorify Him,? and I began by saying, ?Praise and Glory be to the Lord, the Forgiving, the Merciful, the Abundant, Munificent, the Lord of Might and Honour who has sent me as a Mercy for the Worlds and as a Messenger of Joy to all humankind and as a Warner. He has sent a book to me that makes clear all things, and He has given my nation excellence over every previous nation. He has made my nation to be a people of the middle way. He split open my bosom and removed from it all sin. He has made my reputation to be blameless and He has given me victory over all created beings and made me the last and final of all prophets.?

?After I had completed my glorification, Ibrahim got up and said, ?You have been made more meritorious than all the other Prophets with regard to your being victorious and being the last and final of the Prophets.?

Some authorities relate the meeting of the Prophets as follows:

When Rasulullah came to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis, all the Prophets and Messengers rushed up to greet him. They saluted and praised him in many ways and sprinkled upon him showers of light. They marched out ahead of the Buraq as far the Masjid-ul-Aqsa. There, the Holy Prophet (Sal) dismounted from the Buraq, Jibreel tied the halter of the Buraq and everybody halted. Then they addressed the Holy Prophet (Sal) and said, ?Oh Habibullah (Sal), it is for you to enter the Masjid ahead of us,? and the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) answered, ?You were sent before me as Prophets, you therefore have the right of precedence over me. Therefore, proceed into the sanctuary ahead of me.? Then the Almighty Lord Himself addressed the assembly, ?Oh My Beloved, you have attained a special station in this world by appearing with your message of Truth after all those present had gone before; but you are the one who has precedence over everything else that was in the hidden world before the Creation, for all was created from your light. Therefore, it is your right to proceed ahead of them all; enter now!?

At this command, the Holy Prophet (Sal) together with the angel Jibreel entered and all the Prophets and Messengers followed them. Then Jibreel called the Iqama, and the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) led the entire assembly of Prophets, Messengers and angels of the Muqarrabin in a prayer of two Rak?ats.

The Holy Prophet (Sal) resumes the narrative:

?After we had prayed, I received an inspiration in my heart of hearts that it was now time to make supplication for my nation. I therefore raised my hands towards the heavens and began to plead for my weak and inadequate nation. I prayed for their salvation and safety, for grace and forgiveness, and for their release from hell. All the assembled Prophets and Messenger and angels concluded my supplication by saying, ?Amin!?

?At that very moment, I heard within me a voice which called to me, saying, ?Oh My Beloved, you are seated in the Masjid-ul-Aqsa, it is the night of your Mihraj. You who are praying here are the Beloved of Allah and a much-honoured Prophet; those answering to your supplication are all Prophets and Messengers and angels of the Muqarrabin, and He to whom you direct you supplication, He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful, the Most Bounteous of the Bountiful. He is Allah who leads all to the Light of His Guidance, the Sublime Lord of all Might and Glory. Beyond doubt, He will grant acceptance to your prayer, He will forgive the sins of your nation and grant them freedom from punishment. By My Might and Glory, I proclaim that I shall grant them of My Mercy. I shall clothe them with the honour of beholding the Sight of My Divine Beauty.?

Oh Allah, grant us that our last breath might be one of faith, oh Lord of Mercy and Compassion! And grant us to behold Thy Divine Presence, for the sake and honour of Thy Prophet Muhammed (Sal), Amin, ya Hannan, ya Mannan! (Oh Most Compassionate, Bounteous Lord!)

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues: 

?After this, Jibreel came out, holding in his hand three cups. One of these contained milk, one wine and the third water. He told me to choose one of these and to drink it. I chose the one that held milk and drank from it, but there was a little left over in the cup. When I handed the cup back to Jibreel, he said to me, ?You have chosen the natural disposition of Islam.? Then I heard a voice from the unseen which spoke to me, saying, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), had you finished all the milk in the cup, not one of your nation would have had to go to hell.?

?I then turned to Jibreel and asked him to give the cup back to me so that I might empty it entirely. But Jibreel said to me, ?All that has been written must come to pass; what has been decreed from before the beginning of time, must take place, oh Rasulullah (Sal).?

The scholars make this comment: There are seventeen benefits in the fact that the Holy Prophet (Sal) did not proceed directly to the heavens from the Kaaba at Mecca in the night of his Mihraj, but rather stopped at the Bayt-ul-Maqdis and ascended from there.

If we were here to expound on all the seventeen benefits, it would take us a very long time; therefore, we shall content ourselves with the mention of only two points.

The first is this: Had our Holy Prophet (Sal) ascended to the heavens directly from Mecca on his Mihraj and later told his people about it, it would have been very difficult for him to convince those among them whose minds were stubbornly set in opposition to him. However, the Holy Prophet (Sal) reported that he first went to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis (the Temple site in Jerusalem) and that from there he ascended to the heavens. Even then, some of the most stubborn denied that this could have happened, and they challenged him, saying, ?If it is true that you have been where you say you have, then tell us about the shape and structure of the Bayt-ul-Maqdis. We have visited there before and so we know what it looks like, but we know that you have not been there before. If your description accords with what we know, then we will believe in what you tell us. We will then believe that in this night you have been to al-Quds, in full waking consciousness.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) then gave them the appropriate answers and described to them the shape and form of the buildings there, and thus he silenced them. In this way, the reality of the Mihraj was proven.

But let me dwell on this subject a little longer: The day after the Mihraj had taken place, the Prophet (Sal) told his people about it, but they called it lies, saying, ?If you really went to the Masjid-ul-Aqsa last night, then you must be able to describe it to us.? Faced with this demand for proof, the Holy Prophet (Sal) experienced some confusion. He had been entirely engaged in holy converse with the assembled Prophets and Messengers that he had not so much as glanced at the building of the holy mosque there. But Jibreel appeared to him just that moment and said, ?The Lord Almighty sends His Salams upon you. He commands me to bring before you the Masjid-ul-Aqsa for you to look at, so that you may give them the answers they desire.? With that he revealed to the Prophet (Sal) the Masjid-u-Aqsa in its complete shape. Beholding the mosque in front of him, the Holy Prophet (Sal) was very glad and confidently told them to ask what they would of him. He answered them, giving precise names and descriptions of the building. For instance, when they asked him how many columns the mosque had, the Prophet (Sal) described to them each single pillar in detail, singling out whether it was made of marbled stone or of real marble. For each detail he gave exact descriptions. He even told them the distance between every single pillar. At last they said, ?There is no doubt that he actually went there and saw what he says he saw there. Although we have been there countless times, we could never have given such a close description of all this.? With this acknowledgment, they themselves silenced their own arguments and the reality of the Mihraj was thus demonstrated.

Secondly, the site of the Bayt-ul-Maqdis shall one day be the place of gathering. On the Day of Judgement all of Creation shall be assembled there. It was for this reason that the Lord Almighty brought His Beloved Muhammed (Sal) whom He has honoured above all the other Prophets and all other men to this place in his pure physical body. He imprinted his foot upon that place while he dwelt in the world, so that on the Day of Judgement when all creatures are resurrected and gathered in that place, the terror of it should be lessened and safety be found from its dread for the sake of the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) who stepped in this place once before, during his life in this world. Thus it will be made easy for his nation to endure in that place and they will be protected from its awesomeness.

The place of Gathering consists of fifty stations, and they will remain one thousand years in every station. Thus, that day will be as long as fifty thousand years. For the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) sake, the Lord Almighty makes the sojourn there easy for his nation and they will be protected from all the terror and fright of that tremendous day.

Peace and Blessings from Almighty Allah be upon His Beloved and Chosen Prophet, Muhammed Mustafa (Sal), the Imam of the God-fearing, sallallahu ?alayhi wa sallim. Amin!

To return to the narrative of the Holy Prophet (Sal):

?After this, Jibreel took me by the hand and led me outside. No sooner had we stepped out than I beheld a flight of steps one end of which was placed upon the flat ground while the other end reached up and up and disappeared from view into the skies. One of its poles was made of red ruby while the other was of green emerald. The treads were of gold, silver and pearls, and each tread was made of a different precious stone. There were five hundred steps in all and each was embellished and embossed in a different and marvelous way. Never had I seen a thing of greater beauty.?

?This stepladder was the angels? stairway, which they used to descend from heaven down to the earth and to ascend up to the heavens again. The angel of Death, Israil, uses this ladder when he comes to take home the souls of men. The spirits of men also climb up on that ladder when they leave this world. When a believer comes close to his death, the Lord shows him this stairway and he sees Israil descending upon it. He loses himself in the contemplation of that stairway and thus does not feel the agony of the throes of death. It is therefore that the eyes of the dead and dying are often found wide open and staring, gazing fixedly at the beauty of that staircase, which the souls must ascend. While he is yet gazing, his soul departs from him, and after the soul has gone, he can no longer close his eyes.?

Oh Lord, we pray that the pangs of death be made light and easy for us and that we might draw our last breath with our faith intact, Amin!

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continued:

?The angel Jibreel took me upon his wing. To the right and to the left the angels surrounded me and thus we ascended on that stairway straight towards the heavens.?

There is the following account concerning this:

The Holy Prophet (Sal) stepped on a stone as he was attempting to affect his ascent. Under the pressure of the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) blessed foot, this stone softened and became as soft as wax. Up to this very day, the imprint of the Prophet?s (Sal) foot can be seen upon this stone. When the Holy Prophet (Sal) wished to raise his foot from the stone, by leave of the Almighty, this stone raised him aloft instead. At the same time, the steps of the heavenly ladder bent down and became one with the stone. The Holy Prophet (Sal) then raised his foot off the stone and placing it upon the step of the stairs, said to it, ?Stay, oh stone!? The step upon which the Holy Prophet (Sal) trod then rose up and lifted the Prophet (Sal) up. The next step then bent down and came to meet his foot, and then it rose and carried him up with it. The next higher step then bent itself down to receive his foot, and raised it aloft when he placed it upon it. In this manner the steps continued to bend and rise until they had carried the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) all the way up to the heavens.

The stairs to the pavilions and palaces of the lofty gardens of paradise behave in a manner similar to that of these steps. 

When this stone heard the Prophet?s (Sal) command telling it to stay, it obeyed that very instant and remained suspended in mid air, and even so it remains to this very day. From it many useful lessons may be drawn:

While it is only a stone, its unquestioning submission and obedience to the Prophet?s (Sal) command continues into our own time. Therefore, is it befitting of this noble nation to disobey and oppose the Holy Prophet (Sal), having received the order from the Almighty to follow and obey his instructions, and having been cautioned and warned against all opposition to him?  This is a point we must think about and take most seriously. To follow the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) enlightened commands and to emulate the actions of his right guidance, to obey him in perfect submission will save us from disgrace and punishment in this world and the world to come. We must always strive to reach for the happiness and bliss of both worlds. May Allah Almighty grant us His Divine Aid and Support and help us achieve Supreme Success, Amin.

There is another tradition that tells us the story as follows:

From this stone, the Prophet (Sal) mounted the Buraq and the Buraq carried him up into the heavens.

Yet another report has the Holy Prophet (Sal) relate as follows:

?At the foot of those stairs, I beheld a great angel. Had this angel spread out both its hands, all the seven layers of the earths and the seven layers of the heavens would have disappeared in them. This angel greeted me and showed me courtesy. Then he spoke to me and said, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), I was created twenty-five thousand years before Adam. Since that time I have been waiting to receive you here, all the while reciting Salawat and blessings upon you in loving expectation of your advent. The Almighty be praised, for tonight I have attained my goal.?

?After I left that angel behind, I came to a sea, which had a depth of two hundred years? wayfaring. This sea remained suspended through the power of Allah Almighty and not one drop of its waters fell out from it. Whatever creatures there exist on land and in the waters, they all were present in that sea. It was also exceedingly stormy and full of waves.?

It is said that the trembling of the air, which one sees when gazing into the sun is from the waves of that sea.

The Prophet (Sal) continues: ?After this we reached the home of the winds. The wind is bound tightly with seventy thousand strong chains and seventy thousand angels hold on to it firmly and keep it under control.?

?After this, we reached the earthly skies, which Allah Almighty has created from green emerald.?

According to a different narration, the Prophet (Sal) is to have said, ?It is created from water and steam.? The Prophet (Sal) called this heaven ?Rafi?a?, or according to another version, ?Raqi?a?. The keeper of this heaven was Isma?il, for he is among the Prophets of the angels.

The Prophet (Sal) then proceeds to tell us of his journey through the heavens.

The First Heaven

?We then reached the first heaven, Jibreel knocked upon its gate, crying, ?Open up!? The name of this gate is? ?Bab-ul-Hifz?, the Gate of Protection, and it is made of red ruby stone, whereas its lock is made of pearls. From within the guardian of this gate, Isma?il, called out in a voice such as I have never heard before, ?Who is this demanding entry?? Jibreel thereupon answered, ?It is I, Jibreel.? ?And who is that with you?? demanded the keeper of the gate. ?That is Muhammed (Sal),? replied Jibreel. The keeper of the gate then asked, ?Has he been given prophethood?? ?Yes,? replied Jibreel, ?he has been given prophethood.? ?Has he been cited and invited to come here?? Isma?il demanded to know. ?Yes, he has been invited to come,? Jibreel replied. Then Isma?il said, ?Welcome, welcome to you! What a delightful visitor!? With these words he opened the gate.?

In another narration a differing version is related:

Rasulullah (Sal) rose up to the heavens using the rock in the Masjid-ul-Aqsa as a stepping stone to mount the Buraq. The distance from the earth to the heaven is five hundred years? wayfaring. Each heaven has a depth of five hundred years? travelling, and between two heavens there is a space of another five hundred years? travel.

The Holy Prophet (Sal) resumes his narrative:

 ?When I entered this heavenly realm, I encountered Isma?il in his impressive aspect, seated upon a throne of light. One hundred thousand angels surrounded him, standing in front, to the back, to his right and to his left. Each of these angels had another hundred thousand soldiers at his command. Isma?il and all those with him engaged in this Tasbih:

Subhana-l-malik-il-a?la, Subhana-l-?aliyy-il-azhim. Subhana man laysa ka-mithlihi shay?in.

(Praise be to the Highest King; Glory to the High, the Mighty;

Glory to Him who is unlike any other.)?

?I then saluted him and he returned my greetings and honoured me. After this I beheld another group of angels, who stood in pious reverence in Qiyam, (the standing position of ritual prayer). They all were engaged in this Tasbih:

Subbuhun quddus Rabbuna wa Rabb-ul-mala?ikati wa-r-ruh

(Praised be He with exalted praise, He who is holier than holy, our Lord and the Lord of the angels.)?

?I enquired of Jibreel about these angels? form of worship, and he answered, ?Since the day they were created they have been worshipping thus and so they will remain until the Day of Resurrection. Ask the Lord to grant this worship to your nation, too.? So I made supplication and the Lord granted this kind of worship to my nation. That is how the Qiyam came to be included in our prayer.?

?Apart from these, I beheld a number of angels created from wind and water. The angel appointed as their head and overseer was called Ra?ad (which means thunder). He is responsible for the clouds and the rains. The Tasbih they were engaged in was this:

Subhana dhi-l-mulk wa-l-malakuti

(Praise be to Him in whose Hand lies the entire creation and its dominion.)?

?From this angel?s voice issued the sounds of thunder and lightning. In the heavenly sphere there remained not one empty space, angels were cramped even into the smallest corner, prostrating themselves and praising the Lord with manifold praises.?

?Then I saw another angel who bore the shape of a man. Below his waist he was made of fire, while above the waist he was made of snow. The fire clung to the snow and although there was nothing separating these two elements, neither did the snow extinguish the fire, nor did the fire melt the snow. But tears were streaming down this angel?s face, and as he wept, he recited this glorification (Tasbih):

Ya man allafa bayna-th-thalji wa-n-nar,

allif bayna qulubi  ?ibadika-l-mu?minin.

(Oh Thou who hast joined the snow and the fire,

unite Thou also the hearts of Thy believing servants.)?

?I turned to Jibreel and asked, ?Who is this angel and why does he weep?? Jibreel explained, ?He is an angel, Habib by name. He weeps for the sins of thy nation and prays for mercy and forgiveness on them.?

?Then I saw Adam in the form in which he appeared in the world. He was draped in wraps of light and seated upon a throne of light. The Lord Almighty presented to him the souls of the departed, and whenever he perceived the soul of a believer, he rejoiced and said,

?A pure soul emerges from a pure body.? After this, he asked for forgiveness and pleaded for mercy upon that soul. Then the angels came and carried that soul up to a high and lofty place, as it is written in the Holy Qur?an:

No indeed; the book of the pious is in Illiyun[2];

and what shall teach thee what is Illiyun? A book inscribed,

witnessed by those brought nigh.

(The Stinters, 19)

Whenever the souls of departed unbelievers and hypocrites are presented to him, he is vexed and curses them, ?An impure soul emerges from an impure body.? The angels then take that spirit and place it in a place called Sijjin, as it is written in the Holy Qur?an:

No indeed; the Book of the libertines is in Sijjin;

                               and what shall teach thee what is Sijjin?

                      A book inscribed.

                                                 (The Stinters, 7)?

?I then asked Jibreel who was this person and he told me,?This is your first forefather Adam, go towards him and extend to him your greetings.? So I went to him and saluted him, and he replied to my salute, honouring me by saying, ?Welcome to you, oh my righteous son. Oh righteous Prophet! Praise be to the Lord who has given me such a son as you.? In this way he received me well, and I replied to his complimentary speech with these words: ?Praise be to the Lord who has given to me such a father as thou art one.? Then again, Adam spoke, glorified the Lord and said, ?Glory to the Almighty who has blessed you with such great wonders; who has brought you forth from my loins; may Allah always increase the blessings He showers upon you and make you steadfast and permanently grounded in them.? In reply to this supplication and well wishing, I said, ?Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Might and Bounty! He who created you from clay through His Divine Powers and who had you carried up to the heavens on the shoulders of angels. Who has made you the Qibla and commanded all the angels to bow down before you and who has made Paradise accessible for your sake.? To that Adam answered me as follows, ?For all the bounteous gifts granted to me that you have mentioned, you are still more blessed than I. For all the miracles and gifts that I was granted were only given to me for the sake of your light upon my forehead, I was favoured with all these honours only for the sake of that radiant light.?

?He spoke many more things to me, and ended his speech by saying, ?From my time on until the time of your prophet hood, only one in a thousand of my children were graced with entering Paradise, while nine hundred and ninety-nine were sent to Hell. When your time of prophet hood came, only one in one thousand of your nation was sent to Hell and nine hundred and ninety-nine were admitted into Paradise. The Almighty placed your blessed name beside His very own Holy Name even before you appeared in this world and proclaimed your great worth to all of creation.?

?Adam recited this Tasbih:

Subhana-l-jalil-il-ajalli,

Subhana-l-wasi?a-l-ghaniyyi,

Subhana-llahi wa bi-hamdihi,

Subhana-llahi-l-azhim. Istaghfirullah.

(Glory to the Mightiest of the Mighty,

Glory to the All-Embracing, All-Abundant;

Praised be Allah and glorified be He!

Praised be Allah, the All-Glorious

I seek forgiveness from Allah Almighty).?

?Then I saw a door to the right of Adam from which issued the sweetest of scents. Just to look in the direction of that door filled the heart with gladness and serenity. To his left there was another door; to look at it sufficed to make a man weep and the heart to become heavy. I asked Jibreel about these doors, and he said, ?The door to the right opens upon Paradise. The souls of the blessed enter through that door, and whoever glances to the right, sees them and is gladdened. The door to the left leads to Hell, and the souls of the sinners must go through that door. Who looks to the left sees them on their way to Hell and is saddened by the sight.?

?Next I saw an angel who had the form of a cockerel. He was very large and his head touched up to the Divine Throne, while his feet were below the seven layers of the earth. He had two wings; when he spread these, they reached from the farthest east to the utmost west. The station of this angel is the Sidratu-l-Muntaha, which shall be described in detail later on, insha?Allah. The angel?s body is created of white pearl, while the comb on its head is of red ruby.?

To rear a pure, white, unspeckled rooster in one?s home is of great usefulness and has very special advantages. This is because of its resemblance to this angel, the Cockerel of the Divine Throne. It benefits not just the owner of the white rooster, but it also protects the neighbours and the environment from many disasters and bad things. The Holy Prophet (Sal) is reported to have said about this, ?The white rooster is my sincere friend, and he is also the friend of my friend, the angel Jibreel. He is also the enemy of my enemy, Shaytan. The white rooster protects the house in which he is raised and its owner and entire household, as well as nine neighbouring houses and their inhabitants.?

There is only this condition attached to it: the rooster must be of a flawless white, without a speck. He is of even greater value if his crest is forked, as the Holy Prophet (Sal) says,?The fork-crested white rooster is my dear and beloved friend. He protects four houses to the right, four to the left, four in front and four in back, altogether sixteen houses and their inhabitants from disaster and calamity.? (This Hadith is related by Abu ash-Shaykh from Annas.) There is another Hadith related by Bayhaqi from ?Umar who claims that the Holy Prophet (Sal) said, ?This rooster makes known to Allah?s servants the times for prayer. Whoever raises a white rooster in his house will be protected from three things: from the evil of Shaytan, the evil of the sorcerer, and the evil of the soothsayer.? However, he who raises a white rooster must on no account slaughter him, as those who know about these matters inform us in the ?Fath-ul-Qadir? will have us know: ?Sorrow will not depart from the side of him who slaughters a white rooster.?

Imam Tha?libi cites from the book entitled ?Hayat ul-Haywan? (The Life of the Animals) by Imam Dumayri: ?The Holy Prophet (Sal) makes clear to us these pearls of spiritual wisdom when he says, ?There are three things that Allah Almighty loves and is pleased with: the voice of him who recites the Holy Qur?an; the sound of the rooster?s call; the voice of him who prays for forgiveness in the time before the dawn.?

To continue with the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) narrative:

?This angel who has the form of a rooster descends to the earthly skies when it is night, and this is his Tasbih:

Subhana-l-maliki-l-quddus,

Subhana-l-kabiri-l-muta?al,

La ilaha ill?Allah-ul-hayy-ul-qayyum

(Glory to the All-Holy King,

Glory to the Great and Exalted God,

there is no God but Allah, the Ever-Living, Eternally Abiding.)?

?I then asked Jibreel, ?What is this?? and Jibreel answered me, ?This is the reason he is called, ?the Rooster of the Divine Throne?, for when it is night on earth, he descends to the worldly skies. After one third of the night has passed, he flaps his wings and says, ?Oh you who would be worshippers, arise and pray!? All of creation hears this call, all except mankind and Jinn. Therefore, when the roosters on earth hear the angels call, they too flap their wings and voice their call, saying, ?Oh you heedlees ones! Arise and engage in remembrance of your Lord!? When half of the night has passed, this angel again flaps its wings and calls, ?Let those who would perform the supererogatory night prayer (Tahajjud); rise and pray!? When the roosters on earth hear this call, they too sound their call to pass on to men the message of the angel. When two thirds of the night has passed and only one third of it remains, the angel speaks up again and calls out, ?Where are they who would ask for forgiveness for their sins, whose sole hope and desire is the Lord of the Worlds? Let them rise and pray for forgiveness and present their invocations!? Again, the roosters on earth hear this call and pass it on to the people on the earth. When at last dawn begins to break, this angel flaps its wings once more and calls, ?Now let the heedless ones rise, though they be laden heavily with their sins..? After this, he again ascends to his station in the Heavens. Again, the roosters on earth hear his words and inform mankind of the angel?s call. This same sequence is repeated every night, uptil the Day of Judgement.?

?And Jibreel continued, ?When the Day of Judgement is about to occur, this angel will want to call out his call as usual after the first third of the night has passed. But he is stopped by a call from on High, ?Oh My angel, do not awaken My servants!? In this way he is prevented from calling, and he and all the angels of the heavens with him realize that the Day of Resurrection is upon them. All at once they begin to weep.?

 That night will be the length of three days and three nights, and in that night neither the cocks will crow, nor will the dogs bark. Mankind will lie in a deep sleep of forgetfulness for three full days and nights. Only those who were accustomed to rise and pray the prayer of the night (Tahajjud) will awaken and rise to pray their Tahajjud as usual. But they will wonder and say, ?Yet there is no sign of morning breaking, have we risen too early?? Then they will lie down to sleep a bit longer, and when again they awaken, still it will not be day. Then they will understand that it is the longest night before the Last Day, and that indeed it has finally begun.

They will then set about trying to wake up their companions who were not used to rising for the night prayer, but whatever they do, they will not succeed in waking them, it is impossible. Then they betake themselves to the mosques, gathering there and repenting of their sins, praying for forgiveness. There they will remain for those whole three days and nights, weeping copious and incessant tears, imploring the Lord for mercy. When this period is over and the day dawns, the sun will be seen to rise in the west and the Gates of Repentance will be shut.

To continue with our Prophet?s (Sal) narrative:

?I then came to a sea, which was whiter than milk and as viscous as the semen of men. Within it, I beheld things so exceedingly strange and unknown so as to defy all description. Their numbers were unaccountably great and beyond reckoning. I asked Jibreel, ?What sort of sea is this?? and he answered me, ?This is the Sea of Life. On the Day of Resurrection, after every created thing has died its death, the Almighty will want to raise them all from their graves in order to mete out reward or punishment. He will then issue His Command and a rain will fall upon the earth from the waters of this sea. The rainwaters will rise to a depth of forty yards upon the level earth and the ground will be drenched to its depths. All the flesh and bones that have rotted in the earth will then be restored, all the skins and strands of hair and nerves will come together and appear once more. As soon as this water comes in touch with the earth, whatever is contained in it will instantly return to its former state. What has long been scattered will be assembled again, and all this will come to pass on account of the action of the waters of the Sea of Life.?

?After this, Jibreel called the Adhan and Iqama, and I led all the angels and inhabitants in a prayer of two Rak?ats. Then I rose to the second level of the heavens,?

The Second Heaven

?The Lord Almighty, praised be His Name, has created this heaven from red coral and called it Qaydum. The name of its gatekeeper is Mikha?il. This heaven appeared to me to be especially full of light and splendour, so much so that I was blinded and had to squint. The door of this heaven is of pearls and its lock is of light. Jibreel knocked upon this door and requested entry. The keeper of the gate, Mikha?il, called from inside, ?Who is it requesting the opening of this gate?? ?I am Jibreel,? replied Jibreel, and again the angel asked, ?And who is this with you?? This is Muhammed (Sal),? answered Jibreel . Again the gatekeeper asked, ?Has he been given prophet hood?? ?Yes.? replied Jibreel. ?Has he come here upon invitation and request?? asked Mikha?il. ?Yes,? said Jibreel, ?invitation and request have gone before.? Then the gatekeeper said, ?Welcome to you, oh welcome guest! How agreeable a visitor!? With that, he opened the gate.?

?I entered and beheld the guardian angel of this heaven, Mikha?il. There were two hundred thousand angels at his service, each one of whom had another two hundred thousand helpers to assist him. I greeted him and he returned my greetings with reverence. He gave me the joyous news of the many honours and blessings the Almighty was to bestow on me. They were engaged in this Tasbih:

  Subhana-llahi kullama sabbaha-llaha musabbihun,

                          wa-l-hamdu lillahi kullama hamid-allaha hamidun

                        wa la ilaha ill?Allahu kullama hallala-llaha muhallilun

                          wa-llahu akbaru kullama kabbara-llaha mukabbirun.

(Glory be to Allah whenever the glorifier glorifies Him;

and praised be He whenever the praiser praises Him;

there is no God but He each time this Tahlil is recited;

and Allah is Greatest each time this Takbir is affirmed.)?

?I passed on and came upon another group of angels who stood in rows and and were bowing in Ruk?u in perfect reverence and devotion. They remained always in this position and recited this Tasbih:

Subhana-l-warithu-l-wasi?u-lladhi yudriku-l-absar;

Subhana-lladhi la tudrikuhu-l-absar;

Subhana-l-azhimu-l-?alim.

(Praised be He, the Heir Universal who sees,

the All-Discerning;

Praised be He whom our eyes cannot perceive;

Praised be the Majestic, the All-Knowing.)?

?I asked Jibreel, ?Since when have they been in this position of Ruk?u?? and he said, ?Since the day they were created they have always been bowing in Ruk?u, and thus they will remain until the Day of Resurrection, bowed in Ruk?u, reciting their Tasbih. Pray to your Lord that He granted to your nation this form of worship in their prayer.? I therefore prayed to Allah for this, and the Almighty granted it to my nation.?

?After we passed on, I perceived two young men and I asked Jibreel who they were. Jibreel explained to me, ?These young men are the Prophets Yahya and Isa. They are related to each other, being cousins.? I saluted them and they received my Salams with reverence and greeted me, saying, ?Welcome to you, oh righteous Prophet, our righteous brother!? Then they gave me tidings of the many Gifts of Grace the Highest and Holiest Lord had in store for me.?

?The Tasbih of Isa was this:

Subhana-l-hannani-l-mannan;

Subhana-l-abadiyyu-l-abad;

Subhana-l-mubdi-ul-mu?id.

(Praised be to the All-Compassionate, the All-bounteous;

Praised be the Eternal, Never-Ending;

Praised be He who creates from nothing, then causes to die

and returns to its previous state.)?

?After we had passed them, I saw a very great angel who had seventy thousand heads, and on every head there were seventy thousand faces. Every face had seventy thousand mouths and in every mouth there were seventy thousand tongues. Each tongue spoke a different language, which bore no resemblance to the next. Each tongue glorified the Lord as follows:

Subhana-l-khaliqi-l-azhim;

Subhana-l-azhimi-l-?alim;

Subhanallahi wa bi-hamdihi;

Subhanallahi-l-azhim wa bi-hamdihi,

Istaghfirullah.

(Praise be to the Creator, the Glorious;

Praise be to the All-Powerful, All-Knowing;

Praise be to Allah and glorified be He;

Praise be to Allah the Magnificent and glorified be He,

I beseech Allah for forgiveness.)?

?Who is this?? I asked Jibreel. Jibreel told me, ?This is the angel who is charged with the distribution of provisions, and his name is Qasim. He distributes to every single one his daily provision; no one receives more or less than his apportioned lot.?

According to one narration, he is to have said, ?If a person finds himself in straightened circumstances and in the morning prayer (Fajr) recites one-hundred times the last line of the Tasbih of this angel between the Sunna and the Fard Rak?ats, then Allah will supply him plentifully and make his provision bounteous.?

This is the line of this Tasbih:

Subhana-llahi wa bi-hamdihi,

Subhana-llahi-l-azhim wa bi-hamdihi

wa istaghfirullah.

(Praise be to Allah and glorified be He;

Praise be to Allah the Magnificent and glorified be He,

I beseech Allah for forgiveness.)

To continue with our Prophet?s (Sal) narration:

?After passing by this angel, I beheld an even greater, even more wondrous angel who was seated upon a throne of light. He was silent and of morose aspect. The throne he was seated upon had four corners and each corner was supported by seven hundred thousand pillars of gold and of silver. Around him were grouped such multitudes of angels, only the Omnipotent Owner of Might and Bounty, Allah Almighty alone knows their number. To his right angels were ranged row upon row, seventy thousand in all, dazzling in their light. All of them were clad in green and they gave off a lovely scent. Their words, too, were sweet, and their beauty was so great that it was impossible to gaze at them.?

?To the left were another seventy thousand angels, ranged row upon row. Their aspect was of terrible and sinister portent, their faces were black as night and their speech was rude. Their clothing was ugly and the smells they emitted were noxious. When they began reciting their Tasbih, tongues of fire erupted from their mouths. They held before them fiery clubs and blades, and their eyes were so cruel, no one could stand to look at them for long.?

?The angel seated upon the throne was covered with eyes from head to foot, which sparkled as Mars and Venus in the sky. He also had shimmering wings and in his hand he held sheet of paper, while before him there was a tablet. He gazed incessantly at that tablet and not once lifted his gaze from it. There was also before him a tree, and only Allah can know the number of its leaves. Upon each leaf was written the name of a certain person. Then there stood before him a type of vessel. At times he reached in it with his right hand and drew something out of it, handing it to the luminous and gentle angels to his right. At times he reached for something with his left hand and gave it to the pitch-black angels standing by his left side. As I looked at those dark angels, fear fell upon my heart and I began to tremble. I was seized by a weakness and prostration, and I asked Jibreel, ?Who is this?? Jibreel replied, ?This is the Angel of Death, his name is Israil. There is no one who can bear to look at him. It is he who ends all delights, and cuts off from all community.? He then went up to him and said, ?Oh Israil, this visitor here is the Prophet of the Last Times (Sal), he is the Beloved of Allah, the Lord of Mercy. Speak thou to him!? Upon these words, Izrail lifted his head and he smiled. Jibreel approached him and saluted him. I also went up to him and proferred my Salams.  He received my greetings and showed me great honour. Then he spoke, ?Welcome to you, oh Muhammed (Sal)! Allah has created no creature more honoured than you, and to no nation has He given greater honour than to your nation. I am gentler and more compassionate towards your nation than to any nation that went before them.? In response to these words, I said to Izrail, ?You have gladdened my heart, oh Israil, and cleared my mind of fear. Yet there remains one matter on my mind, for I have seen your state to be one of gloom and grief and I wonder wherefore.?

Israil explained to me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), since the time the Lord Almighty has appointed me to my post, I have been living in fear of not being able to discharge my duty and of not being able to fulfill my responsibility. That is why I appear gloomy and depressed.? Then I asked him about the vessel he had before him, and he said, ?That is the entire world, everything from east to west, from one end of the world to the other is contained in this dish. I dispose of it at will.? Again I asked him, ?What is this tablet you are looking at?? and he said to me, ?This is the Lauh-ul-Mahfuzh, the Preserved Tablet, on which is inscribed the doom of those who are to die within the year. The angels write them down and hand the list to me. That is the Tablet.? ?And what is this page?? I asked. ?On this page is written the exact hour of time when these souls are to be taken away.? ?And what is this tree?? I asked. He said, ?It is the tree of the lives of those living in the world. When a man is born, a leaf unfurls upon that tree upon which his name is written. When his time to die approaches, his leaf begins to yellow and wither and his name appears on the Tablet. I give this leaf to the angels, and they take it and mix it in his food so that he eats it. When he has eaten it, by the leave of Allah he falls ill, and when his time is up, his name is erased from the Tablet. I stretch out my hand and seize his soul, whether he be in the east or in the west of this world. If he is among the blessed, I hand him to the angels on my right, for they are the angels of Mercy. But if he is one of the sinners, I hand him to the angels to my left, for they are the angels of Wrath.?

May Allah preserve us from the doom of the wretched sinners, Amin.

?Again I asked, ?How many of those angels are there?? and Azra?il replied, ?I do not know their number, but whenever I seize a person?s soul, six hundred angels of Mercy and six hundred angels of Wrath are ready to do their duty. They wait expectantly to see to which group it will belong. These angels do their duty only once, the same angels never come twice, and so it will be until the Day of Judgement.? After this, I asked again, ?Oh Angel of Death, how do you take the soul of every single individual?? He replied, ?Since the time I was created, I have never moved from this spot. Seventy thousand angels are there to serve me, and each one of these has another seventy thousand helpers. Whenever I have to seize a person?s soul, I give my order to them and they go out and bring the person?s soul up into his throat. After that, I just stretch out my hand and grasp it from there.? I said to him, ?What I would wish for is that my nation, which is a weak nation, experience death in a mild and gentle manner.? He replied, ?By Allah, the Lord of Might and Majesty who has made you the Seal of the Prophets, He Almighty addresses me seventy times during one day and night, saying to me, ?Take the souls of those belonging to Muhammed?s nation with lightness and ease, and judge their deeds kindly.? Therefore, I am given to more compassion towards your nation than to any of those who went before them.?

?After this, Jibreel called the Adhan and Iqama and I led the angels and all inhabitants of the second heaven in a prayer of two Rak?ats. Then I continued my ascent to 

The Third Heaven

?The Lord Almighty created this heaven from copper and has named it Zaytun. The name of its guardian angel is Arina?il. Its gate is of white pearls and it has a lock of light. When Jibreel knocked upon the gate, the guardian angel called from within, ?Who is it requesting entry?? Jibreel answered, ?It is I, Jibreel.? ?And who is this with you?? asked the keeper of the gate. ?It is Muhammed (Sal),? replied Jibreel. Again he asked, ?Has he been given prophet hood?? ?Yes, he has,? answered Jibreel. ?Has he received summons and invitation?? ?Yes, he has,? replied Jibreel. Then Arina?il opened the gates, saying, ?Welcome to you, how pleasing a guest!? I entered this heaven and I beheld Arina?il to be a great and majestic angel. He had at his command three hundred thousand angels who engaged in this Tasbih:

Subhana-l-mutiy-l-wahhab,

Subhana-l-fattahi-l-?alim,

Subhana-l-mujibi liman da?ahu.

(Praise be to the Giver of all things, the generous Bestower,

Praise to the Opener of All Ways, the All-Knowing,

Praise to Him who answers all prayers.)?

?I greeted this angel and he responded with full reverence and gave me news of many and varied blessings and gifts that were to come to me. After that, I went on and came upon a large group of angels ranged in rows and all in the position of Sajda. While bowing thus, they were engaged in this Tasbih:

Subhana-l-khaliqi-l-azhim,

Subhana-lladhi la mafarra wa la malja?a minhu illa ilayhi,

                                  Subhana-l-?aliyyi-l-a?la.

(Praised be the Almighty Creator,

Praise be to Him from whom there is no escape

no refuge but in Him;

Praised be the Highest of All.)?

?Jibreel then said to me, ?They are perpetually engaged in this form of worship. Pray that the Lord grant that also to your nation.? Then I prayed to the Lord and He granted to my nation the Sajda in their prayer. This is the reason why the Sajda in our prayer is doubled: when I came and saluted them, they raised their heads from their Sajda to receive my salute, then they again bowed down. Therefore, my nation was obliged to perform the Sajda twice in their prayer.?

?I then passed on, and I saw Yusuf in all his great beauty. Of all existing beauty, Yusuf was given one half. I gave him my Salams and he returned them with dignity and bade me welcome. He informed me of many miracles to come and he prayed for me. His Tasbih was this:

Subhana-l-karimi-l-akram,

Subhana-l-jalili-l-ajall,

Subhana-l-fardi-l-witr;

Subhana-abadiyyi-l-abad.

(Praised be the Most Bounteous of the Bountiful;

Praised be the Greatest of the Great;

Praised be the Peerless, Unique;

Praised be Eternal, Never-Ending.)?

?After we had passed him, I saw Da?ud and his son Sulayman. I greeted them both and they returned my Salams with respect. They gave me great good tidings and said, ?Pray in this night that you might be given intercession for your nation and that the Lord grant them security.? In this way they counselled me.?

?Da?ud?s Tasbih was this:

Subhana khaliqi-n-nur;

Subhana-t-tawwabi-l-wahhab.

(Praised be the Creator of Light;

Praised be He who accepts Repentance

and the Bestower of All Good.)?

?Sulayman?s Tasbih was this:

Subhana maliki-l--mulk ,

Subhana-l-qahiri-l-jabbar,

Subhana man ilayhi tasir-ul-umur.

(Praise to the Lord of All Dominions,

Praise to the Compeller, the Imposing;

Praised be to whom all Things must return.)?

?After I left them, I came to an angel seated upon a throne. This angel had seventy heads and seventy pairs of wings, each pair spanning all the way from the east to the west. All around him I beheld enormous angels, each of which was extremely tall. These angels were punishing a certain group of sinners, beating them with sticks until they fell apart. Then they became whole again and the angels began beating them again. I asked who this great angel was whom I saw seated upon the throne. Jibreel told me that he was the angel Soha?il and he told me that those I saw being punished were the unjust tyrants and cruel oppressors from among my nation. In this way they would be punished until the Day of Judgement. Their Tasbih was as follows:

Subhana man huwa fauqa-l-jabbarin;

Subhana-l-musalliti fauqa-l-musallitin;

Subhana-l-muntaqimi mim-man asahu.

(Glory to Him who is above all oppressors;

Glory to Him who attacks all attackers;

Glory to Him who takes revenge on whomever disobeys Him.)?

?After this, I beheld a Sea of Fire surrounded on its shores by fierce and terrible angels. ?What is this?? I asked, and Jibreel explained to me, ?This sea is the ?Sea of Sa?q? (Lightning), and these angels here throw down thundering bolts of fire and lightning from the heavens onto the earth.?

As it written in this Holy Verse of the Qur?an:

He looses the thunderbolts,

and smites with them whomsoever He will..

(Thunder, 13)

?After this I beheld a door, which was made all of camphor wood. Its lower groundsill reached down to the lowest level of the earth, while its upper doorsill reached to just below the Divine Throne. This door was a double door, on which was mounted a lock as great as heaven and earth together. I asked in amazement, ?What is this door?? and Jibreel answered me, ?The name of this door is ?Bab-ul-Aman?, the Door of Safety.? I asked why it was so called and Jibreel told me, ?The Lord Almighty created Hell and filled it with various torments. There came a breath out of Hell, and all the creatures on earth and in the heavens appealed to the Lord for help and protection. Then, the Lord of All Majesty created this door between Hell and the rest of all creation, so that all the creatures of the seven heavens and earths will find safety from it. Therefore, the name of this door is the Door of Safety.? I then asked to see what was behind that door and asked for it to be opened, but Jibreel said, ?Behind this door you will find Hell, is that really what you want to see?? ?Yes, indeed, I wish to see it,? I said. Thereupon a Divine Command was heard, saying, ?Oh My Beloved, upon a sign of your finger, this door will open.?

?I then signalled with my hand and the door opened. I looked beyond it and this is what I saw: a great Minbar of iron, which had six hundred thousand pedestals. Upon it sat a great and terrible angel created from fire. He was busy twisting ropes of fire, making shackles and fetters of fire. His face was awesome and frightful to behold. His hand was powerful and his anger was plain to see. His head was bowed forward and he recited this Tasbih:

Subhana-lladhi la yajuru wa huwa-l-malik-ul-jabbar;

Subhana-l-muntaqimu min ?ada?ihi,

Subhana-l-mu?ti li-man yasha?a,

Subhana man laysa ka-mithlihi shay?un.

(Praised be He who commits not injustice

and He is the Almighty, Omnipotent King;

Glory to Him who triumphs in revenge over His foes,

Praised be He who bestows on whomever He wilt;

Glory to Him who is unlike anything.)?

?Flames leapt from his mouth as high as mountains, and from his nose darted flares of fire. This angel was exceedingly angry and full of rage, and his eyes, each one of which was as great as the whole world, blazed with fury. As I beheld this angel in all his awesome aspect, I felt afraid. Were it not for the grace and generous support from the Lord Almighty, I would have perished from fear. I asked Jibreel, ?Who is this, the sight of whom makes me tremble?? Jibreel told me, ?Be unafraid, for there is nothing there for you to fear. This is the Guardian of Jahannam, Hell, and his name is Malik. Allah Almighty has created him from His Wrath and since the day of his creation, he has never smiled yet. His fury increases with every passing moment. Go up to him now and salute him.? Thereupon, I went up and gave him my Salams, but he was so engrossed in what he was doing that he lifted not even his head. Jibreel  passed in front of him and spoke to him, ?Oh Malik, he who has just given you Salams is the Prophet of Allah, Muhammed (Sal).?

?Jibreel thus introduced me, and when he heard my name, this terrible angel rose to his feet and honoured me with many compliments and respectful greetings, after which he spoke, saying to me, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), good tidings to you! For the Lord has vouchsafed to you many miraculous doings; and He is pleased with you: He has forbidden your body to the fires of Hell. From love and respect for you, He has also forbidden the fires to touch those who follow you. He has ordered me to treat the disobedient from among your nation with mildness and restraint. I shall wreak my revenge on those who refuse to believe in you.?

?I then said to Jibreel, ?Ask him to show me Hell.? When Jibreel told him of my request, he opened a hole the size of a needlepoint through which I could look into Hell. At first, a thread of black smoke came wafting through the hole. Had that smoke come from the hole for the period of one hour, all the heavens and the earth would have been filled with it. The light of the sun and the moon and all other luminaries would have been occluded, all would have been steeped in darkness and laid waste. But Malik stopped up that hole with his hand and the smoke ceased pouring forth. Then he said to me, ?Look through this hole and behold Hell.?

?I looked through the hole and I saw the seven layers of Hell stacked one upon another. The uppermost was the one reserved for the disobedient from among my nation and it is called ?Jahannam?. The punishments meted out here were less severe than in the deeper layers of Hell.?

?The second level is called ?Lazha?; it is the hell for the Christians;

The third level is named ?Hotama?, and it is reserved for the Jews;

The fourth level is named ?Sa?ir?, and it is for the Sabeans;

The fifth level is called ?Saqar?, and it is the hell for the Majusis;

The sixth level is called ?Jahim?, and in it shall burn the idolaters;

The seventh level is named ?Hawiya?, and it is reserved for the

                            hypocrites and those who claimed themselves to be

                                          Gods, such as Nimrod and Pharaoh.?

?I had not the strength to gaze at the extreme chastisements of those in the lower levels of Hell, so I only saw what went on in the first levels in which were the unrepentant of my nation. I saw that in it there were seventy seas of fire along the shores of each of which was a city of fire. In each of these cities there were seventy thousand houses of fire and in each of the houses there were seventy thousand chests of fire. Each of these chests contained men and women, imprisoned therein, surrounded by snakes and scorpions. I asked the Guardian of Hell, ?Oh Malik, who are these people locked in these chests?? He told me, ?Some of them are people who oppressed their fellows and unfairly enriched themselves through their belongings. Others are those who became proud, and appointed themselves to be leaders and tyrants and ruled by cruel oppression. Greatness and Pride are attributes of Allah Almighty and befit Him alone.?

?Then I beheld a people whose lips were as the lips of dogs and camels. Their bellies were bloated and the Zabaniya (demons of hell; myrmidons) beat them with mallets of fire until their entrails were ripped up and trailed out from their rear ends. Each time this happened, their entrails were recreated and the Zabaniya tormented them anew, and thus it continues. I asked who these people were, and Malik told me, ?These are the people who wrongfully took for themselves what belonged to orphans.?

?Then I saw another people whose bellies were swollen up like huge mountains. They were filled with snakes and scorpions that crawled about within and caused them great torment. Whenever they wished to rise to their feet, they could not do so for the greatness of their stomachs and the motion of the vermin in them, and they fell back down. I asked the angel, ?Who are they?? Malik replied, ?These are the people of your nation who committed usury.?

?Then I came upon a group of women who were suspended by their hair. I asked who they were and Malik said, ?These are the women who concealed not their hair and faces from unrelated menfolk and who revealed their beauty to men other than their husbands and caused their husbands pain and chagrin.?

?After them, I beheld a group of men and women who were suspended from their tongues by means of fiery hooks. Their fingernails were made of copper and with them they clawed and tore up their own faces. ?Who are these?? I asked, and Malik told me, ?These are people who swore by false testimony, and who were talebearers, spreading slander and gossip.?

?Then I beheld a group of women some of whom were suspended by their breasts while others were tied by their feet, head down. They were yelling and screaming incessantly. I asked about them, and Malik said, ?These are women who committed adultery, and such women who had abortions and killed their children.?

?After these I saw a group of men who were tearing flesh from their own sides and placing it in their mouths. But they did not swallow it; they just hid it in their mouths. The Zabaniya were at them, forcing them to eat the flesh, and again, the same thing would take place: they tore of some flesh, placed it in their mouths and the demons of hell would force them to eat it. This was their punishment. I asked who they were and I was told, ?They are those from among your nation who openly criticize and belittle people, and who talk behind their backs and spread malicious gossip about them as well. And those who wink and poke fun at people, making signs of derision with their hands, lips, brows or eyes.?

?Then I came upon another people whose bodies resembled the trunks of pigs, whose faces were like the faces of dogs, and who emitted fire from their rear ends. Snakes and scorpions were biting them, their flesh being eaten by them. ?Who are those?? I asked the Angel of Hell, and Malik answered me, ?They are those from among your nation who neglected to pray or perform their ritual ablutions, and who went about in a state of (ritual) impurity.?

?After that, I came to another group of people who were suffering from extreme thirst, and desperately crying for water. In response to their pleas, they were given goblets of fire filled to the brim with boiling water, and they were commanded to drink from these. Being forced to do so, as soon as the goblets came near to their lips, all the flesh of their faces began to bubble from the extreme heat of the water until it fell off and dropped into their goblets. When they had drunk the water, their intestines fell apart and emerged in tatters from their backsides. ?Who are they?? I asked and Malik told me, ?These are people from your nation who used to drink wine and other intoxicants.?

?After this, I saw a group of women who were suspended from their feet, with their tongues protruding and hanging out. Angels with fiery shears clipped them off, but they grew back each time. All the while they were braying like asses and howling like dogs. ?Who are they?? I asked the angel, and he answered, ?These are the wailing women who used to loudly bemoan the dead.?

?Then I passed a group of men and women who were seated in copper ovens that were set upon a raging fire, whose flames licked their heads and enfolded their entire bodies. A vile stench arose from here. I asked the angel about them and he said, ?These are men and women who committed adultery.? ?And what is this terrible smell?? I asked. ?That smell comes from the discharge of their genitals.?

?Next I saw a group of  women who were hung up while their  hands were tightly bound to their necks. ?Who are these?? I asked. ?These are women who deceived their husbands and spent their husband?s wealth without his knowledge,? answered Jibreel.?

?Next I saw a group of men and women who were being punished in the fire and the demons of hell set upon them, beating them with fiery rods. The more they screamed, the harder they beat them. They drove blades of fire into their stomachs and whipped them with whips of fire. Their chastisement appeared very severe to me. I asked about them and Malik said to me, ?These are such as opposed and disobeyed their mothers and fathers.? 

?Then I saw a people who wore great rings of fire around their necks. ?Who are these?? I asked the angel. ?These are the ones who defrauded goods left in their safekeeping.?

?Then I came to a group who were being slaughtered by the Zabaniya with knives of fire, but instantly they came to life, only to be slaughtered anew. ?Who are these?? I asked, and Malik told me, ?They are those who killed a soul without justification.?

?Then I saw people who were eating the most disgusting, stinking carcass. ?Who are these people?? I asked the angel. He told me, ?These are the people who spread slanderous gossip, and thereby ate the flesh of their brethren.?

?Next I saw a place in hell which had two divisions, one for the men and one for the women, and both were being punished in a terrible fashion. I asked Malik who they were and he said, ?These are men who went out before their kings and rulers, beating with whips the weak and poor of the people, driving them away with cruelty. And these are women who seemingly dressed in a modest fashion, but in reality were naked and displayed themselves to strangers, for when they went about, they adorned themselves to make themselves appear attractive. Therefore, their heads have grown as big as a camel?s hump, and they cannot enter the peace and safety of Paradise.?

?After this, I saw another group of men and women, all being punished in different ways, each distinct from the other. They were made to suffer the worst castigations of all those punished on this level of hell. For example: they were impaled on poles of fire on which their flesh began to boil and drop off until only their bones remained. But Allah Almighty caused their flesh to grow back forthwith and their torment began anew. Some others were bound with shackles and fetters of fire, and that was their penalty. ?Who are these?? I asked again, and Malik answered and said, ?These are such people who whilst they were alive and well, neglected their prayers and abandoned worship.? ?

?Then I said to the Guardian Angel of Hell, ?Oh Malik, shut the Gates of Hell, for I have not the strength to regard any more of its sights.?  Malik then said, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), you have witnessed the terrors of Hell with your own blessed eyes so that you might pass on what you have seen to your nation as a warning. And may it serve to increase their fear of Allah and keep them from rebellion and disobedience, and make them steadfast in their worship and submission to Allah. Jahannam has seven levels. What you have seen, is only its very first layer, and the punishments therein are light; they are as nothing compared to the deeper levels of hell.?

            The Holy Prophet (Sal) then began to weep from pity for his nation and for the terrors that lay in store for it, and as he wept, the great angels Jibreel and Mikha?il and all the Muqarrabin wept with him and joined in his appeal for mercy. At last there came a call from the Lord Almighty, saying, ?Oh my Beloved, for the esteem you hold in the Divine Presence, your prayer is answered and your intercession is granted; so be easy, for on the Day of Judgement, I will give you a special station of intercession and I will spare as many sinners as you ask for, until you say: it is enough! For We have chosen your nation above all other nations, and I have made you their intercessor, so intercede for whomever you wish, I will accept your supplication.?

            Apart from Malik, there are eighteen other guardians of Hell, nineteen in all. Their eyes are like flashes of lightning and from their mouths issue tongues of flame and they never once feel mercy or pity, Their rage waxes continuously, for punishment and chastisement is their only task. They are of huge stature, so great that with one hand they pick up and throw seventy thousand sinners into the fires of Hell. Each of their teeth is big as Mount Uhud ? so if one tooth alone is as great as a mountain, how great must their whole head, their entire body be! The breadth of the shoulders is a distance of nine days? traveling, and the thickness of their skin is a distance of three days traveling! If he can grab seventy thousand sinners in the palm of one hand, how unimaginably immense must be the stature of this vengeful angel!

Each one of these angels of Hell commands a division of demons (Zabaniya) whose number is known to Allah alone. It is related that Allah described these angels to His Prophet (Sal) in the revelation of the verse:

I shall surely roast him in Saqar;

and what will teach thee what is Saqar?

It spares not, neither leaves alone scorching the flesh;

over it are nineteen.

We have appointed only angels to be masters of the Fire

and their number We have appointed

only as a trial for the unbelievers,

that those who were given the Book may have certainty.

                                                            (Shrouded, 26)

When the Holy Prophet (Sal) received this revelation, concerning the nineteen guardians of Hell, he became distressed on account of his nation, and pleaded for them to be spared. The Lord then addressed him, saying, ?I have included in this Book (the Holy Qur?an) nineteen letters for your nation, oh Muhammed (Sal); if your nation persists in constant recital and application of the words (comprising those letters), I will make them safe from the nineteen Guardians of Hell and their army of assistant demons.? ?What is this word of nineteen letters?? asked Muhammed (Sal). ?It is the phrase: ?Bismillahi-r-rahmani-r-rahim?, spake the Lord.

May the Lord Almighty spare us all and reprieve us on the Day of Judgement from the punishment of Hell for the sake of His Beloved Prophet Abu-l-Qasim Muhammed Mustafa (Sal)! Amin.

?Then,? continued the Holy Prophet (Sal), ?the Guardian of Hell closed the hole to Hell and Jibreel called the Adhan for prayer. I led the prayer as Imam and all the angels and inhabitants of the third heaven prayed two Rak?ats behind me. After this we proceeded to:

The Fourth Heaven

This heaven is created of raw silver, or, according to a different narration, from white pearl. The name of this Heaven is Zahir. Its gate was of Light and the lock to the gate was of Light and written upon it were the words, ?La ilaha illallah, Muhammedur Rasulullah.? The angel guarding the gate to this Heaven was the angel Salsa?il. After we had knocked on the gate and had answered the same questions as before, we were admitted and the gates were opened to us. I beheld the angel in charge, Salsa?il. He was responsible for all that happened here. Under his command were four hundred thousand angels, and each one of these angels commanded another four hundred thousand angelic lieutenants. These angels praised the Lord in the following words:

?Subhana khaliq-iz-zulumati wa-n-nur,

Subhana khaliq-ish-shamsi wa-l-qamar-il-munir,

Subhana-r-rafi?-il-?ala.

(Praise be to the Creator of darkness and light,

Praise be to the Creator of the sun and the shining moon;

Praise be to the Highest of the High.)?

?Among these angels I noticed a special group; some of them stood in Qiyam, some were prostrated in Sajda, their gaze unswerving from the place of their prostration, so rapt were they in  devotion. Another party of those in Sajda were so entranced that they remained gazing at their noses. The Tasbih of these three groups of angels was this:

Subbuhun quddus, Rabbun-ar-Rahman-ar-Rahim

illadhi la ilaha illa huwa.

(Glorified be our Lord, the All-Holy, the All-Compassionate,

the All-Merciful, besides whom there is no other god.)?

?I then asked Jibreel, ?Is this their form of worship?? Jibreel replied, ?Ever since they were created, they have remained in this pose of humility. Make supplication for your nation that they, too, might be given this form of worship.? I prayed and asked this for my nation, and my nation, too, was given this attitude of humility during their prayer.?

?Then I met the Prophets Idris and Nuh. I gave them Salams and they replied reverentially, saying, ?Greetings to you, oh righteous brother, oh righteous Prophet of Allah (Sal)!? and they gave me glad tidings of many good things to come. This was the Tasbih of Idris:

Subhana-l-mujibi-s-sa?ilin,

Subhana qabzi-l-jabbarin,

Subhana-lladhi ?ala fa la yablughu ?uluwwahu ahad.

(Glorified be He who answers those who ask of Him,

Praised be He who constrains the tyrants,

Praised be He whose lofty height none can reach but He.)?

?The Tasbih of the Prophet Nuh was this:

Subhana-l-Hayyi-l-Halim,

Subhana-l-Haqqi-l-Karim,

Subhana-l-Azizi-l-Hakim.

(Glory be to God, the Living and Gentle,

Glory to God, the True and Munificent,

Glory to God, the Powerful and Wise.)?

?Thereafter, I saw Maryam, the mother of ?Isa, and the mother of Musa, Buhayyid, and the wife of Fir?awn, Asiya ? may Allah be well pleased with them. They all came to greet me. Maryam, the mother of ?Isa, had seventy thousand mansions, all made of white pearls. The mother of Musa had seventy thousand mansions all made of green emeralds. Finally, Asiya had seventy thousand mansions made of red corals.?

?After this, I came to a great sea the water of which was white with snow. ?What sea is this?? I asked. Jibreel told me, ?This sea is called the ?Sea of Snow?.? After we had passed by there, we came to the sun.?

 According to one narration, the size of the sun was one hundred and sixty times the size of the earth. According to Ibn ?Abbas, the sun is as great as a distance of seventy years? wayfaring.

After Allah Almighty had created the Sun, He created a boat of pure gold in which He placed a throne of red ruby. This throne stands on three hundred and sixty legs and an angel holds on to each one of them. In this way they place the Sun in this boat and every day three hundred and sixty angels guide the sun-boat from east to west, and every night they guide it back from west to east. Then these angels engage in worship and the following day, another three hundred sixty angels come and perform this duty, and so it will go on until the Day of Resurrection. Every group of angels will only perform this duty once. In the Holy Qur?an this verse refers to the movement of the sun:

And the sun ? it runs to a fixed resting-place;

that is the ordaining of the All-Mighty, All-Knowing.?

(Ya Sin, 38)

The learned commentators, may Allah have Mercy on them, have said that the sun comes to rest beneath the Divine Throne. The angels take the sun to its place beneath the Throne every night where it bows and prostrates itself before the Almighty Lord. Thus it will continue until the Day of Judgement is nigh. Then a Divine Command will be heard, ?Let the Sun stop in the west, and let it rise from there!?

(A detailed interpretation of this vision is given in the work entitled ?Ara?is-i-Salabi?.)

?Thereafter, Jibreel intoned the Adhan and Iqama, and I led all the angels and inhabitants of the fourth heaven in a prayer of two Rak?ats. Then we proceeded to ascend to 

The Fifth Heaven.

 ?Allah Almighty created this heaven from red gold and its name is Safiya. The keeper of the gate is called Kalqa?il. As before, we requested entry at its gates. After a set exchange of certain questions and answers, the gates opened and we entered. Upon entering, I beheld the guardian of this heaven seated upon a throne of light. I greeted him, and he returned my Salams with much respectfulness. Five hundred thousand angels are at his service, and each one of these has another five hundred thousand attendants at his disposal. They are constantly engaged in glorification of the Lord, and their Tasbih is this:

Quddusun quddus Rabb-ul-arbab,

Subhana Rabbina-l-?ala-l-?azham,

Quddusun Rabb-ul-malaikati wa-r-ruh

(Holy, Holy, the Lord of All Lords!

Glory to our Lord, the Lofty, the Majestic!

All-Holy the Lord of the angels and the spirit.)?

?Having passed by these angels, I came upon another flock, and Allah alone knows their number. These were seated in an attitude of perfect devotion in the posture of Qa?da, never raising their gaze from their knees as they recited this Tasbih:

Subhana Dhi-l-fadhli-l-akbar

Subhana-l-?adl illadhi la yajur.

(Praise be to the Possessor of Greatest Grace.

Praise be to the Perfectly Just One who wrongs none.)?

?I turned to Jibreel and asked, ?Is that their form of worship?? He replied, ?Yes, since the day they were created, they have busied themselves with their devotion. Entreat your Lord that He might grant your nation this form of worship as well.? I prayed for this and the Qa?da (kneeling position) was thus included in our ritual prayer.?

?We passed on and met the Prophets Isma?il, Ishaq, Ya?qub, Lut and Harun. I gave them my greetings and they replied, ?Welcome to you, oh righteous son, our upright brother and truthful Prophet!? They greeted me with full honours and and gave good tidings of great good things to be.?

?Their glorification was the following:

Subhana man la yasifu-l-wasifuna ?azhmatahu wa muntahahu

Subhana man hada?at lahu-r-riqab wa dhallat lahu-s-sifaq.

(Glory to Him before the Extremity of whose Majesty all attempts

at description must pale,

Glory to Him before whom princes bow their heads and the

brazen are humbled).?

?Having passed by, we came to a sea the expanse of which is known to Allah Almighty alone, and no but He can say aught about it. I asked, ?What is this sea??  Jibreel  answered, ?This sea is called the ?Bahru-n-Niqam?, the Sea of Vengeance. From here descended the waters of the flood of Nuh.?

?We passed on and Jibreel called the Adhan and the Iqama, and I led all the inhabitants and angels of the fifth heaven in a prayer of two Rak?ats. After this we ascended to 

The Sixth Heaven

?Allah Almighty has created this heaven from a yellow gem and has called it Khalisa. Its guardian is Samkha?il. We came to its gates and requested their opening; the customary question and answering took place and the gates opened for us. As we entered, I beheld the angel Samkha?il. He had six hundred thousand angels at his command, and each of these had another six hundred thousand helpers under him. All were engaged in glorification of the Lord, chanting these words:

Subhana-l-Karim, subhana-n-Nur-ul-mubin,

Subhana-lladhi huwa ilahu man fi-s-samawati wa ilahu man fi-l-ard.

(Glory be to the Munificent, Glory to the Unmistakable Light,

Glory to Him who is God of all that is in the heavens and on the earth.)?

?I greeted the angel Samkha?il and he returned my greetings with full appreciation and ceremony. Then he made this supplication: ?May the Almighty bless your good works, your works of sanctity and the light within your heart!? to which I rejoined, ?Amin!?

?Then we passed on until we came upon a group of angels who are called the Cherubim (Karubiyun). Only Allah knows their number. Their chief is a great angel who is given seventy thousand angels in attendance. Each of these helpers had another seventy thousand angels to serve him. With loud voices, they are continuously chanting Tasbih and Tahlil. Passing by them, I met my brother, the Prophet Musa. I greeted him and he rose in response and kissed me between the eyes. Then he spoke and said, ?Praise be to Allah who has sent you and shown you to me. The Lord has given me tidings of the great miracles about to be performed. Tonight, you are to be honoured by meeting and conversing with the Lord of the Universe. However, do not forget your weak nation. Whatever bliss you are granted, ask also of it for your nation. Should anything be made obligatory on them, ask for it to be reduced to a minimum.?

?The glorification of Musa was this:

Subhana-l-Hadi man yasha?u. Subhana-l-Mudillu man yasha?u;

Subhana-l-Ghaffur-ur-Rahim.

(Glory be to Him who leads to righteousness whomsoever He will;

Glory to Him who leads astray whom He will;

Glory to the All-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.)?

?As we took leave of Musa, he began to weep. I asked him why he wept, and he said, ?I weep because a Prophet has appeared after me who will lead many more people of his nation into paradise than I will lead of mine.?

?Passing on, we reached the angel Mikha?il who was seated upon a tremendous throne. In front of him was a great set of scales. Each scale of the balance was so great that it might have contained all the heavens and earths. A great many scrolls of paper were stacked in front of him. I went up to him and gave him my Salams. He received my greetings and rose to greet me in return. Then he made this supplication on my behalf: ?May Allah increase your powers of sanctity and your bliss,? to which I replied, ?Amin!? He then gave me these joyous tidings, ?No nation has ever before received such goodness and munificence as the blessings with which your nation will be favoured. Therefore their scales weigh heavier than those of all other nations. Happy is the man who follows you with love, and woe upon the man who turns against you and rebels.?

?There were so many angels surrounding Mikha?il that Allah alone can know their number. They all spoke to me and said, ?We are all  subservient to your command, and we constantly recite Salawat upon you. From twenty-five thousand years before the creation of Adam until this very moment, there has been one particular angel responsible for the delivery of every single drop of rain or snow. For all the growing plants and fruits and crops, there is an angel assigned to every single one of them, and he performs his duty perfectly. Having performed his duty once, he does not repeat his chore again until the Day of Judgement. From this you can gauge the immense number of angels that are created.?

?The Tasbih of these angels is this:

Subhana Rabbi kulli mu?minin wa kafirin,

Subhana man tada?u min haybatihi ma fi butuniha-l-hawamil.

(Glory be to the Lord of every believer and every infidel;

Glory to Him, from awe of whom pregnant women bring forth what is in their wombs.)?

?The glorification of the angel Mikha?il is this:

Subhana-Rabbi-l-?ala

(Glory be to the Highest Lord)?

According to one narration he (Sal) is to have said: ?If a person perseveres along his life in reciting this Tasbih, ?Subhana Rabbi-l-?Ala?, when his time to die has come, the angel Mikha?il will send the Angel of Mercy to him with a gift. He who is visited in his grave by the Angel of Mercy is made safe from the punishment of the grave.?

On account of this vision, the Holy Prophet (Sal) included this Tasbih in his Sunna, since Muslims recite this phrase in every Sajda, so that they may ultimately reach to this felicity.

The Holy Prophet (Sal) then continued:

?After this we reached a luminous green sea where there was a multitude of angels - Allah Almighty alone knows their number ? and their Tasbih was this:

Subhana-l-Qadiri-l-Muqtadir,

Subhana-l-Karimi-l-Akram,

Subhana-l-Jalili-l-?Azhim.

(Glory be to the Mighty, the All-Powerful;

Glory to the Most Generous of the Generous,

Glory to the Glorious, the Illustrious.)?

?I then asked, ?What sea is this?? and Jibreel told me, ?The name of this sea is ?Bahr-ul-Akhdar?, the Green Sea.? Then Jibreel recited the Adhan and Iqama, and I led the angels and inhabitants of the sixth heaven in a prayer of two Rak?ats. Then we rose up to 

The Seventh Heaven

This Heaven Allah Almighty has created from Light. Its name is Ghariba and the name of its guardian angel is Afra?il. Jibreel requested entry at the keeper of the gates as he had done before, and after a succession of questions and answers, the gates swung open and we were admitted. I beheld Afra?il and the seven hundred thousand angels under his command. Each one of these had in turn seven hundred thousand helpers, and their glorification was this:

Subhana-lladhi sataha-s-samawati wa rafa?aha,

Subhana-lladhi basata-l-arda wa farashaha,

Subhana-lladhi atla?a-l-kawakiba wa azharaha,

Subhana-lladhi arsa-l-jibala wa haya?ha.

(Glory be to Him who has fashioned the skies as a roof and raised them aloft;

Glory to Him who has flattened the earth and fitted it accordingly;

Glory to Him who brought forth the stars and made them to be adornments;

Glory to Him who has set up the mountains and fixed them in their places.)?

?I greeted Afra?il and he received my greetings with pleasure. He gave me glad tidings of many spiritual gifts of grace and much reward for accepted good works.?

?Above the gate to this heaven were written these words: La ilaha ill-Allah, Muhammed-ur-Rasulullah, wa Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.

There I beheld an angel whose head was at a level with the Throne, while his feet were placed firmly on the earth. He was so great that he might have swallowed up all the seven layers of heaven with one gulp, had Allah Almighty permitted him to do so. The Tasbih of this tremendous angel was this:

Subhana-l-muhtajibi bi jalalihi,

Subhana-l-musawwiri fi-l-arhami ma yasha?u.

(Glory be to Him who is veiled by His Majesty,

Glory be to Him who forms in the womb

Whatever He wills.)?

?Then I saw an angel with seven hundred thousand heads, and each of these heads bore seven hundred thousand faces. On every single face there were seven hundred thousand mouths, and in every single mouth there were seven hundred thousand tongues and with each tongue he speaks seven hundred thousand different languages. This angel also has seven hundred thousand wings. Every day, this angel plunges seven hundred times into the Ocean of Light, which is in Paradise, and each time he comes up out of the water, he shakes himself. From every drop of light that flies off him, the Almighty creates an angel, which glorifies the Lord as follows:

Subhanaka ma ?azhama sha?nuka,

Subhanaka ma ?azhama makanuka,

Subhanaka sayyidi ma arhamaka bi khalqika.

(Be Thou glorified, how immense is Thy dignity!

Glory be to Thee, how high is Thy station!

Glory to Thee, my Lord, how great Thy Mercy

on Thine creation!)?

?After passing by this one, I beheld another angel, seated upon a throne. His head was beneath the Divine Throne, and his feet reached to the bottom of the earth. He was so great, that he could have swallowed up the world and what is within it in a single gulp. The tip of one of his wings touched the west, whereas the other touched to the east. Seven hundred thousand angels were at his service, and each one of these commanded another seven hundred thousand angels. ?Who is this?? I asked the angel Jibreel. ?This is Israfil,? he told me. I went up to him and gave him Salams and he received them well and gave me great good tidings. His Tasbih was this:

Subhana-s-sami?-ul-?alim,

Subhana-l-muhtajibi ?an khalqihi,

Subhana Rabbina wa ta?ala.

(Glory be to Him, the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing,

Glory be to Him who is veiled from His Creation,

Glorified and exalted be He, our Lord Almighty.)?

?After this, I came upon a person all drowned in Light. He was seated upon a throne in an attitude of awesome dignity, and before him   was a multitude of little children. I asked Jibreel who was this person of such light, majesty and awe, and who were all the children with him. The angel answered me, ?This is your great grandfather Ibrahim. He loves you and the entire nation that believes in you. He once prayed to the Lord of the Worlds that he might be of service to your nation, and the Lord heard his supplication. He gave him all these little children who are the little boys and girls from your nation who die before reaching adulthood. Allah Almighty has entrusted Ibrahim with their upbringing and education. Until the Day of Judgement, he will be instructing them in proper behavior and training their minds in the useful sciences. After having perfected their schooling, on the Day of Gathering he will lead them forth and bring them to the site of Resurrection. There, before the Lord?s Holy Presence, he will entreat Him with these words: ?Oh my Lord, here are the youngsters of the nation of Your Beloved Muhammed (Sal) who died before reaching the age of maturity. According to Your order and command, I have taught and trained them in all useful branches of knowledge, and brought them before Thy Majestic Throne. Thine is all kindness, favour and grace.?

 ?At this invocation, the Almighty Lord will reply with the full glory of His Majesty, ?Oh children, go and enter the Gardens of Paradise.? Thereupon, these children will reply, ?Oh our Lord, by Thy Grace and Thy Munificence, let our parents go with us!? The Almighty Lord will again direct His Divine Speech at them, and say, ?You have nothing to answer for, go and enter into Paradise forthwith; as for your parents, they are accountable and there are things they have to answer for.? Again, these children entreat the Lord, ?During their lives in the material world, we caused them sorrow through our absence; now, by the vastness of Thine Mercy which floods the universal expanse, let us be the cause of happiness for them.? Upon this plea, the All-Merciful and Benificent Lord accepts the childrens? supplications and addresses them, saying, ?Go then and take from the wine of the spring of Kawthar and give your parents to drink therefrom.?

?Thereafter, Jibreel turned to me and said, ?Go ahead and give Salams to Ibrahim.? I stepped forth and greeted him, whereupon he honoured me and received me well. Then he spoke to me, saying, ?Welcome to you, oh virtuous son and righteous Prophet! Tonight you are to be honoured in that you will witness the splendor of the Lord of the Universe, and you will be admitted to behold all manner of sacred displays. As for your nation, it is the last of all nations and it will be a very weak nation, so do not neglect to intercede with your Lord on their behalf.?

?And he continued, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal)! Give Salams to your nation from me and convey to them my advice: the World (dunya) is of a passing nature and rapid in its decline. In the eyes of the Eternal Lord it is but base and contemptible matter. He attributes to it not even the value of a fly?s wing. Tell them not to waste their lives in the pursuit of its vain beauties, its pomp and palaces; not to be deceived by its many and varied tastes, by promises of grandeur and large followings. For it is the world to come, which is lasting, and eternal. Therefore, let them busy themselves in following the pure ways of the Shari?a (Divine Law) by night and by day, and the guidance contained in your Sunna (practice of the Prophet (Sal)) and thereby gain the good pleasure of the Almighty Lord. The Gardens of Paradise are vast, so let them plant there many, many trees.?

?I asked him then, ?How does one plant a tree in the Janna?? He replied, ?Through the recital of this Tasbih:

Subhanallahi wa-l-hamdu-lillahi

wa la ilaha ill-Allahu wallahu akbar,

wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa billahi-l-aliyyi-l-azhim.

(Glory be to Allah and Praise,

none is worthy of worship but Allah alone,

and Allah is Mosty Great!

There is no Might and no Power save with Allah,

the Exalted, Majestic.)?

?Tell them to recite this Du?a (prayer), for each time they recite it, a tree is planted in Paradise.?

?Then Jibreel called the Adhan to prayer and made Iqama; I then led the angels and the inhabitants of the seventh heaven in a prayer of two Rak?ats, then we ascended to 

The Bayt-ul-Ma?mur (The Heavenly House)

?This is a highly revered building in the seventh heaven. It is of the same size as the revered Ka?aba, which stands upon the earth and it is situated right above it. Were it to be let down from the Heavens, it would land right on top of the Ka?aba. Allah has created it from red ruby stone and given it two doors made from green emerald. Ten thousand lamps of pure gold illuminate it and it has a minaret of pure silver, which has a height of five hundred years? travelling. At the door of this building there is a Minbar (a pulpit), and every day since their creation up until the Last Day, seventy thousand angels come here to visit this house. In front of it there is a sea of light in which they first bathe, then take thereof a veil of light each and wrap it around themselves. This is their Ihram (ceremonial clothing of the pilgrimage). Then they begin to circumambulate the Heavenly House in Ihram, calling out ?Labbayk? (?At Your service!?), as the pilgrims do on earth. Having once completed their Tawaf (circumambulation), these angels do not return a second time until the Day of Judgement, and it is only the angels of the seventh heaven who go there at all. Jibreel then took me by the hand and we went inside. He said to me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), do lead us here in prayer too!? Then he called the Adhan, and all the inhabitants of the seven heavens now followed as I led them in a prayer of two Rak?ats. When I beheld the immense multitude, it came to my mind, ?Oh if only my nation were granted such a communal prayer.? Thereupon, the Lord who knows all hidden thoughts realized my secret wish in that He commanded, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal)! Your nation will be granted such a communal prayer: it will be on a Friday, and it will be obligatory.[3]

It is written in some of the books of admonition:

Every Friday the great angels assemble round the Holy House. Jibreel calls the Adhan and Israfil  delivers the Khutba (sermon) while Mikha?il leads the prayer as Imam. All the angels of the seven heavens follow his lead. After the Jum?a prayer is complete, Jibreel addresses the gathering as follows, ?Oh gathering of angels, bear witness that I pass on the reward for this Adhan to the Muadhdhins[4] of the nation of Muhammed (Sal)!? Then Israfil  rises and says, ?Oh ye angels! Bear witness that I donate the reward for this Khutba to all the Khatibs[5] of the nation of Muhammed (Sal)!? Then Mikha?il steps forth and says, ?Oh angels, I too have made over the merit of leading this prayer to the Imams[6] of the nation of Muhammed(Sal)!?

All the angels then present the merit for their prayer to those of the nation of Muhammed (Sal) who have prayed the Jum?a prayer. Then there comes a call from the Highest Lord, saying, ?Oh Angels of Mine! Do you seek to outdo Me in generosity, whereas I am He who created all Generosity and Munificence! Hear then My Decree: whoever honours the day of Jum?a from among the nation of Muhammed (Sal), man or woman alike, I will forgive them their sins and free them from the torments of Hell!?

Thus He Almighty grants us His Grace and Mercy. Oh Allah, make us also recipients of Your Munificence and ease our way to reach such a degree of merit, for the honour of the Trusted Prophet Muhammed (Sal), oh Most Merciful of the Merciful, Amin!

?Then,? continued the Holy Prophet (Sal),  ?we proceeded to ascend to

The Sidrat-ul-Muntaha

Concerning the ?Sidrat-ul-Muhtaha?, the learned ?Ulama have proffered various differing opinions, particularly with regard to the name itself. Ibn ?Abbas relates: ?It is called ?Sidrat-ul-Muntaha? (the lotus tree of the extreme limit) because it is the end of all that is knowable, and nobody can know what is beyond it.?

Some others have explained: ?Whoever comes from above, arrives here and cannot pass on further down. Whoever comes from below, reaches this point and cannot ascend further. Therefore it is called by this name.?

Yet others try to explain it in this way: ?The world of spirits ends at this point, therefore it is called the lote tree of the extreme limit.?

Ibn ?Abbas tells us: ?It is a tree which is made all of gold. Some of its boughs are made of emerald, some are of ruby. The tree measures a distance of one hundred and fifty years from its foot to its top. Its leaves resemble the ears of the elephant, and they are very great: a single one of them would cover the entire world. Its fruits are shaped like water jugs. The whole tree is engulfed by light.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues:

?Upon this tree I saw such a number of angels that only Allah Almighty can know. They enfolded all the leaves of that tree and glittered like locusts, flashing like stars.?

This holy verse was revealed concerning this vision:

Indeed, he saw him another time

by the Lote-Tree of the Boundary

nigh which is the Garden of the Refuge,

when there covered the Lote-Tree that which covered;

his eye swerved not, nor swept astray.

Indeed he saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord.

(The Star, 12)

The commentators interpret this verse as meaning that the whole tree was surrounded and embraced by the multitude of angels upon it.  It is related that there were as many angels upon the leaves of that tree as there are stars in the sky and grains of sand in the earth. Some angels took the form of golden butterflies. All of them came to greet the Prophet of Allah (Sal), and when they beheld his saintly beauty, they all gave thanks to the Lord and gave to him the assurance of Allah?s Mercy. They also made over all the merit of their devotional actions to the nation of Muhammed (Sal).

Jibreel, too, had his place upon the branches of this tree, and his was a branch made of green emerald. It was at a height of one hundred thousand years of journeying. There is a leaf there, the breadth of which is that of the seven layers of the heavens and the seven beds of the earth. Upon it there is a carpet spread of light, and on it there is a Mihrab made of red ruby. This Mihrab is the place of the Angel Jibreel. Before it was placed a seat of honour reserved for the Holy Prophet (Sal) upon which no one had sat since the day it was set in place.

The Holy Prophet?s (Sal) narration continues:

?Jibreel then led me along and sat me upon that seat of honour. I saw that other seats had been placed alongside. Before it there were ten thousand such seats, and upon them sat angels who were writing the Torah. Each seat was surrounded by forty thousand other seats upon which angels sat reciting the Torah. To the right there were ten thousand stools made of green emerald. Angels sat upon them, busied with the writing of the Injil. Each of these was surrounded by forty thousand stools upon which angels sat reciting the Injil. To the left there were also ten thousand stools made of beryl, and the angels seated upon them were writing out the Zabur. Forty thousand other angels reciting the Zabur surrounded each seat. Behind us there were again ten thousand stools of red ruby. The angels seated on these were writing out the Holy Qur?an, and around each stool there were seated another forty thousand angels reciting the Holy Qur?an.?

This has been explained as follows:

The wisdom of the Torah being placed before Muhammed (Sal), the Injil to his right, and the Zabur to his left is this: before the Holy Prophet (Sal), the Choice of all Humankind, had yet appeared in the world and begun fulfilling his mission, those Holy Scriptures had already been revealed. All of them contained descriptions of the Prophet to come and told of his characteristics and excellence, and of the pre-eminent position of his nation among all other, previous nations. The Holy Qur?an was placed behind him because its Judgement is to remain valid and unsurpassed until the Day of Judgement, and even the Day of Judgement would be conducted by its rulings. It is a sign of its remaining free and safe from abrogation, substitution, alteration or corruption.

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues:

?Jibreel then said to me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), I have a request to make of you: that you would deign to pray two Rak?ats here, so that my Maqam might gain blessings from it.?

 ?I therefore prayed a prayer of two Rak?ats there and all the angels of the Holy House and the Sidrat-ul-Muntaha followed suit.?

In this way the Holy Prophet (Sal) was shown to be even more honoured than the angels.

The Four Streams of Paradise

Rasulullah (Sal) continues his account:

?Below this tree there flowed four streams, two of which were evident and two of which were hidden. Jibreel told me, ?The two hidden streams flow into the gardens of paradise, while the two visible ones flow down to the Earth. One of them is the Euphrates, the other is the Nile.? Then I beheld another stream, by the banks of which tents had been set up that were of ruby, pearls and chrysolite. By their banks flew birds of emerald green whose necks resembled the necks of camels. Jibreel  then said to me, ?What you see here is the spring of Kawthar. Allah Almighty has made you a gift of it.?

As it is written in the Holy Qur?an,

                                    Surely, We have given thee abundance(=Kawthar);

so pray unto thy Lord and sacrifice.

Surely he that hates thee, he is the one cut off.

                                                                        (Abundance)

 ?This stream flowed along over pebbles of rubies and emerald and its waters were whiter than milk. I took up a cup and drank from it. Its taste was sweeter than honey, and its scent more pleasing than musk. A spring gushed forth beneath that tree. Jibreel told me its name: Salsabil. It was the source of two waters, one is Kawthar (Abundance), the other is Rahma (Mercy). Both streams flow before the gates of the Garden. Those entering into Paradise drink from the waters of Kawthar, and when they do so, all the calamities of the heart, base character and bad habits disappear and they become cleansed. Then they bathe in the spring of Rahma (Mercy). The men assume the dimensions of Adam, who measured sixty yards in height and seven yards in breadth. They will all be thirty-three years of age and will have green moustaches. As for the ladies, they will emerge as virgin girls of eighteen and their virginity will not be rent. Thus they will enter into Paradise, and never again will they age and become old. The spring of Salsabil is the source of these waters.?

?Then I saw groups of angels passing in rows before the Sidra, and their rows were joined together. They formed such long formations, that were a bird of swiftest flight to fly along it for a hundred years, he would not reach its other end. They moved faster than the wind, as swiftly as the arrow flies. I then asked Jibreel, ?Whence comes this great multitude of angels, and whither are they going? And when did they begin their passage?? Jibreel explained to me, saying, ?They have been passing by since the time they were created, ceaselessly in passage. I know not whence they come nor whither they are going.? I marveled at their great number, remarking on it under my breath. Instantly this verse was revealed to me through Jibreel:

                        ....and none knows the hosts of thy Lord but He.

(Shrouded, 34)?

?Then they brought before me three bowls; one containing wine, one containing honey and a third containing milk. I chose the one with milk and drank from it. Jibreel then said to me, ?You have chosen the natural disposition of Islam and your nation will be firmly established in the religion of Islam. Had you chosen the cup of wine, your nation would have been a rebellious and fickle one.?

?I saw an angel at the Sidra greater than all the other angels I had seen. He measured a thousand times thousand years wayfaring distance. This angel had seventy thousand heads. Every head had seventy thousand faces. On every face there were seventy thousand mouths. And each head was covered with seventy thousand cloths. Each one of these coverings was embellished with one thousand times thousand pearls. Each of these pearls was so great that there appeared a sea in its midst in which fish were swimming. Upon their backs was written the Kalimat-ut-Tawhid, the Declaration of Unity: LA ILAHA ILLALLAH, MUHAMMEDUR RASULULLAH.?

?This angel engaged in exaltation of the Lord, placing one hand upon his head and one hand behind his back. The beauty of his voice was such that it caused a commotion at the Divine Throne itself. I asked Jibreel to tell me who that angel was and he said, ?The Lord Almighty created this angel two thousand years before He created Adam.? I then asked where he had been all this time and where was his place of dwelling. Jibreel replied, ?In Paradise there is a place to the right of the Divine Throne, that is the abode of this angel. From there he was brought here.?

Ramadan, the Blessed

?I went up to him and greeted him and he rose in answer to my Salams. Then he spread his wings, and all the heavens and the Earth were covered by their expanse. He then kissed my face and said, ?Good tidings to you, and to your nation! The Lord Almighty has decreed that your nation might have a singularly blessed month so that He might forgive them their sins. This holy month is the month of Ramadan and it is meant as a gift for you and your nation. For its sake your nation will find forgiveness. I have been sent here this very night to announce to you this great gladness.? Then I saw two boxes standing before him. On each of them there was a key of light. I asked that angel what was inside of those boxes. He told me, ?In one of these boxes there are the letters of release from Hellfire for those among your nation who fast the whole month of Ramadan until the new moon, uptil the Day of Judgement.?

According to a different narration, the angel is to have said, ?Every day of Ramadan, at the time of Iftar (the breaking of the fast), the Lord Almighty frees from Hellfire six hundred thousand of His servants who have fasted. When Jum?a (Friday) has come, He frees six hundred thousand prisoners every hour for twenty-four hours from Hellfire until the Night of Power has come. On that blessed night, that is to say, during the twenty-four hours making up that night and day, at the beginning of every hour the Lord frees from Hell as many of His servants as He has freed since the beginning of the holy month, including the Jum?a days. The last day of Ramadan, at the time of Iftar (the breaking of the fast), the Lord sets free as many of His servants as He has freed during the whole month, including the Jum?a days and the Night of Power.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues:

?The angel told me that the other box contained this precious gift: ?On the Day of Judgement, seventy thousand persons of your nation will be granted entry into Paradise without questioning or reckoning. Their release certificates are contained in this box. In addition to these seventy thousand, each one of them will be granted the release of another seventy thousand from among his friends and relations and other disobedient Muslims. They, too, will be released without reckoning and granted accession to the heavenly gardens. This box contains the letters of release for all of them. Tuba, glad tidings to you and your nation, oh Rasulullah (Sal)!?

By the term Tuba he meant to say, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), among all the countless and unbounded pleasures of the People of Paradise, the delights of the Tuba tree are reserved for you and your nation.?

This expression is a metaphoric one; the part signifies the whole, and speaking about the Tuba tree, signifies the totality of delights in the entire heavenly realm. In the sense mentioned above, Tuba signifies a tree in Paradise. However, the word ?tuba? is also (grammatically) the feminine form of the word ?atyab?, (which means better, more excellent). This can be interpreted as follows: ?I give tidings of gladness to you and your nation; those who pass their days in the world in a good way and spend their time in a commendable fashion, who perform good works all their lives, and when they reach the end of their days will return their trusts in the light of faith, uttering the words of unity; whose questioning in the grave by the angels Munkar and Nakir will be made easy and whose graves will resemble a Garden of Paradise in which they will be at ease; who on the Day of Gathering will be gathered under the Banner of Praise and who will receive many gratifications under the shadow of the Great Throne; who will be given their book of accounts into their right hand and whose reckoning will be light; who will cross the bridge of the Sirat along with those who are the first to cross it, and who will by the Grace of Allah be of those who enter Paradise freely, without questioning or Judgement; who will be granted the sweetest of all bliss in being privileged to gaze upon the Divine Beauty of the Lord and thus will have attained their ultimate desire ? these are the tidings I give to you and your nation, oh Muhammed (Sal).?

The Holy Prophet?s (Sal) report goes on:

?I then beheld another angel who had the shape and form of a rooster and was created from white pearls. This angel had seventy thousand wings to his left and seventy thousand wings to his right. On each wing there were seventy thousand feathers made of pearls, and seventy thousand feathers made of rubies, and seventy thousand feathers of red gold, and seventy thousand feathers of silver, and seventy thousand feathers of pure musk, and seventy thousand feathers made of camphor, and seventy thousand feathers of ambergris, and seventy thousand feathers made of saffron. He reached in height from the Throne to the lowest of the seven layers of the earth. On each one of his wings were written these words:

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim,

La ilaha ill?Allah, Muhammedun Rasulullah.

Kullu shay?in halikun illa wajhahu, al-Wahid ul-Qahhar.

(In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the All Compassionate. There is no God but Allah, Muhammed is Allah?s Messenger.

All must perish save His Divine Countenance,

He who is One, the All-Vanquishing.)?

?At every prayertime, this angel would raise his head and repeat the glorification:

Bismillahi-l-?azhim wa bi-hamdihi

(In the Name of Allah, the Mighty and in Praise of Him.)?

?His Tasbih was thus:

Subhanaka, ma a?zhama sha?nuka.

(Praise be to Thee, how great is Thy Glory!)?

?After this, he would flap his wings together, and as he did this, wondrous sounds issue forth from this flapping. When these tones reach the Paradise Gardens, the boughs of the trees of Paradise would bend and sway against each other, and it would carry on to the ruby and garnet domes of Paradise which resound with melodious echo. These tones rouse the Huris and Ghilman of Paradise, and they say to each other, ?Good news! The time for prayer has come to the nation of Muhammed (Sal)!? Then, this great angel begins to move and his movement makes the Throne tremble. The Lord then asks him, ?What makes you tremble?? and the angel answers Him, ?Oh my Lord, the nation of Muhammed (Sal) has risen for prayer, and yet there are among them such a great number of sinners. Therefore I tremble.? The Lord thereupon says, ?Oh angel, be unperturbed! I am obliged to dispense of My Mercy upon those who pray. Witness that I train upon them the Gaze of Mercy and that I have forgiven them. I have freed them from Hellfire, for the honour of My Beloved, I have granted them dwelling in the Paradise of Mawa.? Thus the Lord proclaims His great Kindness and Munificence.?

The Angel Jibreel?s Appearance

?Here, too, I beheld the angel Jibreel in his very own shape and form. He had six hundred wings, which were made of various kinds of jewels and pearls. Whenever he would open up a pair of these wings. They filled all the space between east and west. The wings were embellished by all sorts of precious stones. It would have taken a swift-flying bird five hundred, or according to other sources, seven hundred years to measure the distance from one shoulder to the other.?

Adhan

?Then we came to an open space from where we could hear the sounds of the writing of the Divine Pen. I said to Jibreel, ?Go ahead?, but Jibreel answered, ?You go ahead, for in the eyes of Allah you are more honoured than I and all the world.? I then passed on ahead of him and Jibreel went behind me. We came unto a veil of gold. Jibreel shook the veil and a voice was heard from behind it, saying, ?Who are you?? Jibreel answered, ?I am Jibreel, and Muhammed (Sal) is with me.? From within the veil this angel intoned: ?Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.? From behind the curtain came a voice which said, ?My servant has spoken truly, I am indeed the Greatest, no Greatness is due to any but Me.? Then the angel called, ?Ash-hadu an la ilaha ill?Allah.? Again there was a call, ?My servant has spoken truly, Ana la ilaha illa ana, I am He beside whom there is no other God.? The angel repeated the words of the Shahada, ?Ash-hadu anna Muhammedan Rasulullah, I bear witness that Muhammed (Sal) is the Prophet of Allah.? Again there was a call, ?My servant has spoken truly, I have sent Muhammed (Sal) as My Messenger-Prophet.? Then I heard the angel say, ?Hayy ?ala-s-sala, Hayy ?ala-l-falah.? Another call was heard, ?My servant has spoken truly; he calls My servants to come to Me, worshipful. I have invited them to My gate, and whoever answers My invitation, will be saved and meet with success.? Thereafter I heard the angel say, ?Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.? Another call came, ?My servant has spoken the Truth: Ana Akbar, I am the Greatest.? The angel then said, ?La ilaha ill?Allah?. A call came, saying, ?My servant has spoken truly, there is no God but I.?

?Then I heard another call, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), Allah has honoured you with perfect honour over all those who went before you and who are yet to come.? I then asked Jibreel, ?Who is this angel?? Jibreel told me, ?I swear by the Might and Glory of Allah who has sent you as His Messenger of Truth: I have never seen this angel, I do not know who he is or anything about him, but you are now about to find out.? I then asked, ?Are you not going any further then? Does a true friend leave his friend in midstream?? Jibreel then said, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), every angel has his place and station beyond which he cannot go. If I advance even the breadth of a finger, the Wrath of Allah will burn me. My ultimate station is the Sidratu-l-Muntaha. Up to this very moment, I have never gone as far as this point. For your sake and honour, however, I have been given permission, and I have brought you here. But I can proceed no further than this.?

?Then I asked, ?Is there anything you request of the Lord Almighty? If there is anything you desire, I will ask it of Him.? Jibreel  answered, ?My request of the Lord is that He permit me, when your nation is ordered to march across the Bridge of the Sirat, to spread my wing across that bridge and assist them in crossing it in safety in this way.?

?Then an angel stretched forth his hand from behind the veil, and in less time than the blinking of an eye, he pulled me through to the farther side. Then he said to me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), proceed ahead of me.? In a short while, he had brought me before a curtain of pearls. When he stirred the curtain, an angel?s voice was heard from behind it, asking, ?Who is this?? The angel accompanying me said, ?I am the angel of the golden curtain and with me is the most-honoured Prophet of the Lord.? The angel behind the veil then said, ?Allahu Akbar? and, stretching out his hand from behind the veil, he pulled me across. In as little time as it takes for the eye to blink, I had traversed the curtain and found myself standing before him, where he greeted me with every mark of honour and respect.?

Rafraf

?In this way I passed through seventy thousand veils, each one of them made of a different kind of jewel. The distance between each of these curtains was one of five hundred years? wayfaring, and the thickness of each was that of another five hundred years. When I had passed through all of the veils, I remained all alone. Then Rafraf came to me and became visible in the shape of a green settee, which greeted me with greetings of peace. He spoke to me, saying, ?Seat yourself upon me, for I will be your transport.?

In the night of his Mihraj, the Holy Prophet (Sal) journeyed upon five different conveyances: the first was the Buraq, which took him up to al-Quds (Jerusalem). The second was the Mihraj (the steps) on which he ascended up into the earthly skies. The third was the angel Jibreel?s wing; on it he approached as far the veil. The fourth were the angels who pulled him from one veil to the next. The fifth was the Rafraf; with this he proceeded as far as Allah Almighty wished him to go.

Kursi

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues:

?I mounted upon the Rafraf and it took me as far as the Kursi (Divine Courtyard). The Lord Almighty has created the Kursi from pearls, and it is very great, so great it is that it defies all description.?

In the Holy Qur?an, Allah says about the Kursi:

His Throne ( Kursi) comprises the heavens

and the earth;

the preserving of which oppresses Him not.

(The Cow, 255)

The most excellent of commentators, Ibn ?Abbas, says about this in his commentary: ?If the seven layers of the earth and the seven layers of the heavens were put together and spread out, next to the Kursi they would be as a tiny ring which has been lost in a desert.?

Between the Kursi (Divine Court) and the ?Arsh (Divine Throne) there are seventy veils. If not for these, the angels of the Kursi would be burnt from the Light of the Divine Throne (?Arsh).

The Holy Prophet (Sal) went on:

?I passed beyond those veils. Between each of the veils, I beheld various thrones that were bedecked with fine throws studded with many gems. All around the thrones curtains were drawn, as if these thrones were still waiting for their occupants. An air of expectancy surrounded these bejewelled seats of honour. I asked the guardians of these thrones, ?Who is to be seated upon them?? and they answered me, ?They will be occupied by the spirits.? I asked, ?The spirits of which prophets are they meant for?? and I was told, ?These are not for those ranking among the prophets, their ranks are far beyond that. These thrones are intended for the spirits of two groups from among your nation.? I asked again, ?Whose are these spirits?? And I was told, ?One group is made up of those who have learnt by heart the words of the Holy Qur?an revealed to you, who understand its meaning and who act in accordance to its injuctions. The other group comprises those who rise at night to worship their Lord when all the world lies fast asleep.?

?Indeed, I beheld many wondrous marvels between the layers of these veils. I saw numberless strange seas and within them strange and wondrous creatures. I saw many angels of dreadful guise, but to comprehend them or describe or explain them exceeds all human means.?

Arsh

?After passing through all the veils, I reached to the Divine Throne. Allah has created it of green emeralds and it has four legs of red ruby. The Divine Throne has as many tongues as there are created beings, and each of these glori­fies the Lord unceasingly.?

?An angel holds on to each one of the feet of the Divine Throne and holds it aloft until the Day of Judgment. On that day, there will be two angels holding each foot of the Throne, eight angels in all. The size of these angels is such that the distance between the heel and the ankles of each is that of five hundred years? wayfaring, and from their earlobe to their neck is another five hundred years? traveling distance. The Throne-bearing angels never once raise their heads to gaze upwards, for the dazzling gleam of the light of the Throne. One of these angels has the form of a man, and he is always praying, interceding on behalf of humankind, that they may be granted their sustenance and provisions and that their sins may be forgiven. The second one of these angels has the shape of an eagle and he is always praying for the provi­sion of the birds and flying creatures. The third of these angels has the form of a lion, and he prays for the beasts of prey to be given their provisions. The fourth one is shaped like an ox and he prays constantly for the ruminant animals to be granted their provisions.?

?Compared to the greatness of the Divine Throne, the entire Divine Court, the seven heavens and the seven layers of the earth are as a single lamp suspended beneath the sky. All around it are seventy thousand rows of angels circumambulating it at all times, reciting Takbir (?Allahu Akkbar?) and Tahlil (?La ilaha illallah?). Behind them are again seventy thousand rows of angels standing upright and reciting Takbir and Tahlil. Behind them are one hundred thousand rows of angels who hold their right hands clasped over their left hands and each one of them recites a different Tasbih. Seventy thousand veils separate these angels from the Divine Throne.?

?Then I  beheld a single pearl of emerald green upon which was written this line of writing:

LA ILAHA ILL?ALLAH,

MUHAMMED-UR-RASULULLAH,

ABU BAKR AS-SIDDIQ wa ?UMAR AL-FARUQ

?The Declaration of Unity (Kalimat-ut-Tawhid) is written on the base that supports the Divine Throne, and upon the legs of the Throne itself, and it is written over the gates of the seven heav­ens. Sometimes, this phrase was added: ?I have strengthened him through Ali.?

?When I reached the Divine Throne, I witnessed great events. One drop fell from the Throne into my mouth and the sweetness of it surpassed everything I have ever tasted. When I had swallowed it, the Lord of the Universe enlightened my heart with the knowledge and wisdom of all that had gone before and was yet to come.  The light from the Throne sur­rounded me and I was engulfed by it. I was aware of nothing but that light. When faced with this light, I perceived every­thing through my heart?s eye as clearly as though I were looking through my eyes. I perceived what was behind me as clearly as that, which was before me, at a level with my chest.?

?After all this occurred, I came into a state when I heard absolutely nothing, not the voices of the angels, nor the sound  of any other thing. This state caused me to experience great terror. Then I suddenly heard a voice that seemed to be the voice of Abu Bakr saying to me, ?Qif, ya Muhammed, inna rabbuka yusalli. (Stay your step, oh Muhammed (Sal), for your Lord is praying (=blessing).?  When I heard this voice, all the terror departed from me completely, and I began wonder to myself, ?What is Abu Bakr doing here? Has he surpassed me, I won­der? And what does this mean, the Lord is praying, the Lord who is free from all exigency! What could be the meaning of all this??

This is a very important subject which needs to be well understood: the reason for the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) proceeding to the Divine Throne was not to see the Lord Almighty, for the Almighty God is exempt from any particular place. The Holy Prophet (Sal) was taken to these sta­tions in order to witness the entirety of creation, and to see the manifestation of the Divine Lord?s Supreme Majesty and Power, as He says in these verses of the Holy Qur?an:

Indeed, he saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord.

(The Star,15)

and in Sura Isra:

...that We might show him some of Our signs.

(The Night Journey, 1)

Apart from this, there is another matter which it is important to understand: Let it not be imagined, that the greatness of the things described in this account are exaggerated, for the Lord says in His Holy Book:

Indeed, he saw one of the greatest signs of his Lord.

(The Star, 15)

The Lord of the Worlds Himself here describes a thing as being ?great?; how great then must it be! For perhaps the Holy Prophet (Sal) has given us only a summary report of what he saw in accor­dance with our minds? capacity; most of what he saw he did not reveal to us, for it is not possible to give a de­scription of the greatest things that he witnessed, as the mind of man is not equipped to comprehend such things. Therefore, he did not mention those matters, this must be understood.

The Vision of the Divine Beauty

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues his account:

?When I reached to the Divine Throne, I wished to remove my sandals, but the Throne spoke to me and said, ?Oh Beloved of Allah (Sal), step upon me with your blessed sandal, so that I might rub the dust from it on my face, and take pride in the fact that the dust from the sandal of the Beloved of Allah (Sal) has fallen upon me.?

?Again I tried to remove my sandals, but this time a call came to me from the Divine Person, saying, ?Oh My Beloved, do not remove your sandals so that My Throne might be honoured and blessed with the dust from the soles of your sandals.? I then entreated my Lord, saying, ?When You called the Prophet Musa to come to the mountain of Tur (Sina?i), You ordered him to remove his sandals.? Again this word came to me from the Divine Person, saying, ?In My view, you are more cherished and honoured than he; Musa was My Word (Kalimullah), whereas you are My Beloved (Habibullah). Look ahead and see what you will see!?

?I looked and I saw a great sea, so great that there was no end to it, and no shore in sight. On its near side there was a tree, and upon that tree, there was a bird the size of a dove. In its beak this bird bore a piece of clay as big as a lentil. ?Do you know what this is?? I was asked. I answered, ?My Lord knows best.? And He Almighty told me, ?You are forever entreating Me to forgive your nation their sins. This sea is the likeness of the Sea of Mercy. That tree signifies the world, the dove-like bird is the like­ness of your nation and that bit of clay is the likeness of their sins. Now you have seen the relation of your nation?s sins to the vastness of My Mercy, so let your heart be at rest.?

When the secret of that, which the mind is incapable of grasping was revealed to the Holy Prophet (Sal) in this Holy Verse of the Qur?an,

..He stood poised, being on the higher horizon,

then drew near and suspended hung,

two bows?-length away, or nearer,

then revealed to His servant that He revealed.

His heart lies not of what he saw; what, will you dispute

with him what he sees?

The Star, 6-12

He, the Almighty addressed him in the following words: ?Draw nearer to Me, oh you Best of all Mankind! Draw nigh, oh Ahmad, oh Muhammed, so that the Friend may be in intimate association with His friend!?

In this way, the Holy Prophet (Sal) was granted the  unmedi­ated vision of the Sublime Beauty of Him who is beyond all space and time, free from all conditions or qualities, the Unmitigated Principal of all things.

This is the avowed preference of the Ahl-i-Sunna wa-l-Jama?at.

The Prayer of Tahiyyat

To continue with the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) account:

?When faced with the unparalleled honour of a glimpse of the Lord?s Divine Beauty, it came to me to express myself in the follow­ing words:

At-tahiyyatu li-llahi wa-s-salawatu wa-t-tayyibatu.

(Salutations be to Allah, all praise and glory to Him; all worship and good works are due to Him Almighty;)

that is to say, ?All praise, exaltation and worship in speech, all worship through actions and property is due to the Almighty alone, the only One to whom worship is due.?

After I had pronounced these words, the Lord of Might and Glory answered me, saying,

As-salamu ?aleyka ayyuha-n-nabiyyu wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu;

And salutations to you, oh Prophet, and the Mercy of Allah and His Blessings),

which is to say, ?Peace be upon you, oh Prophet; may you be safe from the trouble and difficulties of this world and the next, oh My glorious Prophet! May the Mercy and Blessings of Allah be upon you.?

In this way, He proffered very special greetings upon me. In response, I said:

As-Salamu ?aleyna wa ?ala ?ibadillahi-s-salihin;

(And peace be upon us and upon the righteous servants of the Lord;)

that is to say, ?May the peace of this world and the next be upon us, for our answering and acceptance of these greetings, upon all us Prophets of the Lord, and upon His righteous servants, which is the name given to the nation of Muhammed.?

?Jibreel was informed of this secret, and he from his post concluded:

Ash-hadu an la ilaha illallah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammedan abduhu wa rasuluhu.

(I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammed is His Servant and His Prophet.)?

 ?After this, Allah Almighty, the Possessor of Majesty and Glory, asked me, ?Do you know, oh Muhammed, which actions the inhabitants of the heavens approve of and what they desire to be done?? I replied, ?Oh my Lord, I know nothing, and You know ev­erything, moreover all that is hidden and secret.? Again the Lord spoke to me and said, ?Oh Muhammed, do you know what actions the heavenly hosts love and approve of?? Again I replied, ?Oh my Lord, I know it not, for You know all things, and you know all that is hidden.? After this, He in His Grace and Infinite Kindness and Benevolence taught me all the knowledge I was in need of. Then again He asked me the same question, ?Do you know what actions the heavenly hosts rejoice in and are happy to see performed?? This time I answered, ?They are happy with works that are performed in compensation for sins committed and with works that lead to raised stations in Paradise - those are the works the heavenly folk rejoice in.? The Lord of Hosts continued to ask me, ?And what are these works that are compensation for sins committed?? I answered, ?On a cold day, to perform one?s ablutions with cold water and in such a way that one?s limbs are wetted entirely; to walk the distance required to join the prayer in congregation; after having prayed one prayer, to wait for the next (that is to say, to make ready as the time approaches, and to wait in readiness;) these are actions that are compensation for sins. Whoever performs such works, he will live his life in good­ness and righteousness and only good will be his lot. He will be as pure as on the day his mother brought him into the world.?

The meaning of these last two statements can be understood as referring to good works in general, but it can also be understood as  supplication and incentive, in which case it would be read as follows:

?Whoever persists in these three actions, I pray and plead that his may be a goodly life. May he always be surrounded by goodness and remain as pure as on the day he was born.?

But to pursue the Holy Prophet?s account:

?Then my Lord resumed His questioning and said, ?Which are those actions that lead to high stations in Paradise?? And I answered, ?To share food with people and to show hospitality, to give Salams to a Muslim whom one encounters on the road, to rise for prayer at night when everyone is asleep - these three actions lead to high stations in Paradise.?

?After this the Lord Almighty said to me, ?Speak, oh Muhammed!? ?What shall I say, oh my Lord?? I answered. ?Recite this Du?a,? he said, ?

Allahumma inni as?aluka ?amalan bi-l-hasanati wa tarkan l-il-munkirati, wa idha aradta bi-qawmin  fitnatan wa ana fi-him,

fa-qbidni ilayka ghayra maftun.

(Oh my Lord, I ask of You to be granted good works and to be released from bad actions, and should You have decreed disaster for a people and I should be among them, then take me from their midst before calamity takes its toll.)?

 The Leader of the World, the Foremost and Elect of all the Sons of Adam, the Messenger of Allah, Muhammed (Sal) thus reached the Station of Nearness and was granted the vision of Divine Beauty. From the Station of the Knowledge of Certainty (?ilm-ul-yaqin), he passed to the Station of the Witnessing of Certainty (?ayn-ul-yaqin) through holding direct converse with the Lord of Majesty and Might. His blind faith in the unseen was turned into faith supported by direct witnessing. The Exalted Lord Almighty informs of this in the revelation of this verse of the Holy Qur?an,

The Messenger believes in what was sent down to

him from his Lord..

(The Cow,285)

Here the word ?messenger? (rasul) indicates Rasulullah, Muhammed our Prophet (Sal).

The Holy Prophet (Sal) recounts,

 ?Concerning the above mentioned verse, I said, ?Yes my Lord, I believe in all that has been revealed aforetime.? The Lord then asked, ?And who else believed in it?? I said, ?And the believers; each one believes in God.? (The Cow, 285) The Lord then asked again, ?And what else do they believe in?? I replied, ??And His angels, and His Books and His Messengers. We make no division between any of His Messen­gers (The Cow, 285); we accept and confirm them all.? The Lord then asked, ?What did the believers say when the revelation came to them with the laws and injunctions from their Lord ?? I answered, ?They said, ?We hear, and obey (The Cow, 285), oh my Lord!? The Lord then said, ?You have spoke truly, oh Muhammed, for they have received My Word and pledged obedience to My Commands. Now ask of Me what you wish, it will be granted.? To this I said, ?Oh Lord, grant us Thy
Forgive­ness; unto Thee is the homecoming. (The Cow, 285)? Admit us to Your Divine Presence having granted us Your Mercy and Forgiveness.? Thereupon the Almighty replied, ?I have forgiven you and your nation.? And after this, the Lord of Majesty and Might spoke,

God charges no soul save to its capacity,

standing to its account is what it has earned,

and against it what it has merited.

(The Cow, 286)

 And after this, He said, ?Oh Muhammed, this night is the night of gifts, ask therefore for whatever you wish, it will be granted.? I then said,

Our Lord,

take us not to task

if we forget or make mistake.

(The Cow, 286)

The Lord then said, ?I have forgiven you and your nation for what­ever sins they have committed from heedlessness and forgetful­ness. And I have forgiven them the sins which they were forced to commit. So ask again, it will be granted.? I said,

                         ?Our Lord,

                            charge us not with a load such

        as Thou didst lay upon those before us.?

 (The Cow, 286).?

            The Holy Prophet (Sal) wished to express this: ?Do not charge us with as heavy a load as that which You laid upon previous nations.?This alludes to previous injunctions, which required the giving away of one fourth of one?s possessions in Zakat, the cutting off of a defiled piece of clothing; swift punishment for crimes commit­ted, and similar punishments. For instance, something that was permitted to them before was forbidden to them as a punishment for their crimes, or they were changed into pigs and monkeys for an act of disobedience; if they committed a sin during the night, it would be written upon their foreheads or above their doors, in express letters, stating the crime and the punishment due to the perpetrator. ?This man has committed a crime during the night and as a punishment, he must kill himself,? (for instance by burning himself, or by cutting off certain limbs.) Thus the sins they committed were out in the open and on that account they suffered public disgrace. The obligation to always pray in their churches was also imposed on them, it was not lawful for them to pray in any other place. On a day of fasting, it was forbidden to them to take any food or drink after the onset of the night, or to approach their women after that hour.

To continue with the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) narration:

?I made supplication for my nation that they might not be burdened with all the weight that previous nations had to bear. My Lord then said to me, ?I have granted ease to your nation and made their burdens light. So ask of Me what you want, it will be granted.? Then I said,

Our Lord,

                              do Thou not burden

us beyond what we have the strength to bear

(The Cow, 286),

meaning disasters and calamities. The Lord answered, ?I will not place upon you and your nation burdens which exceed their strength to carry them. But ask more of Me, I will grant it.? ?I replied, ?Pardon us!? (The Cow, 286); ?and He replied, ?I have pardoned you and your nation.? ?Forgive us!? (The Cow, 286).? ?I have forgiven you and your nation.?

            According to another version, the Holy Prophet (Sal) here explicitly asked for pardon for each and every act of disobedience, to each of which the Lord Almighty replied, ?I have forgiven them.?

The Prophet (Sal) continues,

?At last I said, ?Have mercy on us?, (The Cow, 286), and the Lord answered, ?I have mercy on you.? Then I said, ?Thou art our Protector;? (The Cow, 286) and the Lord said, ?The Friend and Protector of all believers is Allah Almighty, Lord of Might and Glory; the unbelievers have no Protecting Friend.? Then I said, ?And help us against the people of the unbelievers?(The Cow, 286). And the Lord replied, ?Up to the Day of Judgment, I have made you and your nation to be victorious over the unbelievers.? The Lord then asked again, saying, ?Oh My Beloved, other than this, if there is anything you should wish for, ask it of Me, for I will grant it to you.? Thereupon I said, ?Oh my Lord, you have chosen Ibrahim to be Your intimate friend, and have spoken to Musa with­out intermediary. To Da?ud You granted great possessions, and made iron to be soft as wax in his hand; You have made the mountains and its stones and the birds of the air to be subservient to his command, so that they joined him in singing Your praises. Idris You have transferred to a high place. To Sulayman You gave a kingdom and such possession as no one after him will ever come to possess and enjoy. And You made subservient to him mankind and Jinn, the demons and wild beasts, the birds and the winds. And You also taught him the tongues of the birds and the beasts. To ?Isa You gave knowledge of the Torah and the Injil, and by his prayer, You made the blind seeing, the afflicted whole and the ailing to regain their health; You made him revive the dead, and You made him and his mother safe from the wiles of the devil and gave them protection. What will be the equivalent gift You will make to me?? The Lord Almighty replied to this in all His Grandeur and Majesty, saying, ?Oh Muhammed, I have chosen you as My Beloved, just as I chose Ibrahim as My faithful friend. To be the Beloved of Allah is even more excellent than being His bosom friend. I have also privileged you with the vision of My Divine Beauty, and I have spoken to you without intermediary, even as I spoke to Musa.?

?Beyond this, I have given you the chapters of the Qur?an, ?al-Fatiha? (The Opening) and the end of ?al-Baqara? (The Cow), which are both from the treasure troves of My Divine Throne. These were not given to any Prophet before you, but reserved for you and your nation.?

?Also, I have sent you as My Messenger to all the peoples of the world, to mankind and to Jinn, be they black or white or of any other description; never before have I sent a Prophet with so universal a mission.?

?I have made the whole earth a means of cleansing for your nation. When you find water and are sound enough to perform your ablutions, make Wudu and take your Ghusl. But when you do not find water or you have not the strength to wash, you may perform Tayammum and cleanse yourself by means of the dust of the earth.?

?I have made the whole Earth to be as a Masjid, a place for prayer, so that wherever you may find yourselves, you may pray and perform your worship.?

?I have made lawful to you and your nation the spoils of war, so that you may profit from them. To previous nations these were not lawful.?

?And I have strengthened you in that I have cast fear into the heart of your enemy, even if there is a distance of one month?s journey between you and them.?

?I have granted you the right of intercession for whomever you desire. I have sent down to you the greatest and most august of all revealed scriptures, the Glorious Qur?an. And I have split your breast and removed from you all sinfulness.?

?I have elevated your name, for wherever My Name is men­tioned, there your name is pronounced as well.?

                            Did He not find thee an orphan, and shelter thee?

Did He not find thee erring, and guide thee?

Did He not find thee needy, and suffice thee?

                                                            (The Forenoon, 6-8)

?When the Lord Almighty had spoken to me thus, all I could   an­swer was, ?Yes, my Lord, all these great favours You have bestowed upon me and honoured me beyond all measure.?

?Then the Lord spoke again and said, ?Among all the people belonging to your nation, I have made one group in whose hearts resides the Holy Qur?an. (meaning: I have made the Holy Qur?an easy to memorize, so that they may learn it by heart and recite it from memory.) This was not given to other nations before yours; they did not commit to memory the books their prophets brought to them.  This privilege I have reserved for your nation alone. I have made your nation more excellent than all previous nations; your nation is a nation of the middle way, and a nation of justice.?

?You I have created before anything else, and I have sent you on your prophetic mission as the last of all the Prophets. I have given you to drink from the waters of Kawthar (=abundance), and I have given you eight shares; these are: Islam, the Hijra (migration), Jihad (holy war), Salat (ritual prayer), Zakat (obligatory donations to the poor), the fast of Ramadan, enjoining good and discouraging evil (amr-b-il-ma?ruf wa nahiy-?an-il-munkar).?

?After the Lord had stopped speaking, I asked Him, ?Oh my Lord, after I had passed and seen all of creation, I experienced a moment of extreme terror. At that moment, I heard a voice that sounded to me exactly like the voice and inflection of Abu Bakr, and it said to me, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), stay your step! For Allah is praying (= raining His blessings).? When I heard this, two questions arose in my mind. One was this: Has Abu Bakr overtaken me and come here be­fore I have? The second question on my mind was this: My Lord has no need to pray, and yet I am told He is praying, what can that mean?? The Lord then answered me, ?Indeed, I have no need to turn to any in prayer, but recite the verse which I have revealed unto you:

It is He who blesses you, and His angels,

to bring you forth from the shadows into the light.

He is All-Compassionate to the believers.

                                                            (The Confederates, 43)

This verse will teach you that the meaning of My prayer is nothing but Mercy for you and for your nation.?

?As for Abu Bakr, oh Muhammed, it is as with the staff of the Prophet Musa, your brother among the Prophets. Musa always had his staff with him and it was for him something familiar and friendly. Therefore, when on the mountain of Tur (Sina?i) he was nearly overcome with awe as the Divine Call came to him, We addressed him, saying, ?What is that in your hand, oh Musa?? and Musa an­swered Me and said, ?It is my staff.? When he remembered the name of this familiar object, the excessive dread and awe he felt at the Divine Call departed from him. In this instance you are like Musa, oh Muhammed. The most familiar being in this world and the closest to you is your friend Abu Bakr. When you were in the grip of awesome terror, We created an angel for you in the shape and form of your familiar friend Abu Bakr and gave him his voice and tone with which to speak to you, so that you might feel the comfort of that familiarity when you heard him speak. Then the awesomeness and terror left you entirely, and so that you were not totally overcome by tbe majesty of this revela­tion and were able to ask what you wish from the Divine Essence. By means of this familiarity you were able to speak normally and without dread. I have in My Divine Majesty made Myself free from all defect and weakness, and My Mercy out­strips My Wrath (that is to say: My Mercy has many more destinations than my Wrath.) Therefore, state your wishes, and ask of Me whatever you need and desire.?

?After these words, the Lord added, ?What of the Angel Jibreel?s request, which he asked you to make?? I replied, ?Oh my Lord, You are the All-Knowing; there is no need to speak of it, as You know already, all Bounty and Munificence being Thine.? The Lord replied to this, ?I do grant his request and fulfill his wish. On the Day of Judgment when your nation prepares to cross the Bridge of Sirat, let them take a hold of his wing and cross with ease. Only the ones who loved you and your companions will cross with ease; I grant My Divine Sanction.?

?To this I rejoined, ?Oh Lord, you have sent punishment upon the nations that went before mine in many and varied forms. There were some upon whom You sent a rain of stones to destroy them; while others you drowned in the waters. Some were de­stroyed by Jibreeil?s shout, and some You caused the Earth to swal­low. Some perished when You sent against them a rain of fire, and others died in a harsh, bitter wind. Some you transformed into swine and apes, thus causing their destruction. Oh Lord, what will become of my nation after I have gone??

?The Lord of Mercy and Munificence, the Lord of the Universe then intoned in all His Majesty and Splendour, ?My Wrath has been spent on those nations before thine; upon your nation I will shower only Mercy. I turned into apes and swine those that went before, but for your nation I will transform their badness into good actions. To the corrupt among them I will grant the gift of re­pentance, and bring them into a good state of being. I will deliver them from their bad traits and help them acquire good characteristics. I will rid them of their ignorance and change their minds to understand­ing and perfect knowledge. Whoever calls upon Me, saying, ?Oh My Lord!? and turns to Me with true humility in his heart, to him I will an­swer, ?I am at your service, oh My servant; tell Me what it is that you desire, and I will create it.?

?To you I give the right of intercession for your nation, oh Muhammed, you may be the advocate on their behalf, and I pledge to accept all your intercession.?

?And then He Almighty said, ?Oh Muhammed, I have not made your nation excessively wealthy, so that their accounts will not be overly long. And I have not made their bodies very great, so that they might not require much of worldly food and drink and dress. I have not made their lives to be exceedingly long, so that their hearts might not be blackened by pride in reliance upon a long life span and that they might always be aware of death and make their preparations for the afterlife that follows. I have not made death to come to them suddenly, but I have made illness precede it and provide a cause, so that they might not meet with a sudden death when they have plunged and sunk in the sea of heedless­ness. When they fall ill, they repent of their sins, they pay their debts, they try to make up for past mistakes and shortcomings. They make their last will and testament. I have brought them into the world after every other nation, so that their time in the grave might be of short duration; they will remain trapped in their tombs only until all the people of their nation have come and gone. When that is done, their time is up and they will attain to their blissful stations in Paradise, enjoying its undying delights.?

?Then the Lord said to me, ?Oh Muhammed, sometimes your nation will be obedient to Me, at other times they will be rebellious. Their obedience to Me meets with My Pleasure, and to Me are ac­ceptable all their works, which accord to My Good Pleasure; I for­give them their minor misdoings and accord to them generous rec­ompense. For I am the All-Bountiful, and I show Myself to them in My aspect of Bounty. The disobedient among them are subject to My Judgement; but because it is the Judgement of past eternity, I forgive them their disobedience, for I am the All-Merciful, and I show them My Mercy.?

?And then He said, ?Oh Muhammed, say to your nation: ?The Lord Almighty says to you: just as you love a person for that he shows you loving kindness and generosity, I am much more deserv­ing of your love and affection than any other in this world. For I have created you when you were naught and I have given you a pleasing form and fine limbs and I continue to ceaselessly shower you with innumerable blessings. Not a moment passes in which I do not bestow upon you a new form of goodness.. Therefore you ought to love Me more than any other, obeying My Commands and submitting to My Law.?

?And again, He Almighty says to you, ?If you are going to fear anything that dwells between heaven and earth, it is I whom you ought to fear more than any, for My Power pervades all and every­thing. My chastisement is violent and swift, no one can flee or hide from it, or run to another master in order to save himself from Me, for no one has such powers. As this is the reality, you must beware of acting contrary to My wishes and commands.?

?And the Lord said, ?If you are going to ask of any, I am most worthy of being asked, for it is I alone who accepts all prayers of need and fulfills all wants.? And He says: ?You feel shame and re­gret when you have ill-treated someone or been unkind, whereas I am the most deserving of your shame and remorse, for I have brought you into being when you were naught and to this very moment I have heaped upon you endless gifts and blessings. I have made you safe from all manner of affliction, and yet you disregard My injunctions and do what I have forbidden to you. Therefore, contrition is your due and restraint from actions that I have prohibited. Obey Me and My Commands!?

?And the Lord addresses Himself to you, saying, ?If you choose for reasons of personal and covetous choice, I am the most deserving of your preference, for I am your Creator, and your Provider, and the only object of your worship. Therefore, turn to Me, worshipful, in your actions and with meritorious conduct.? All this He Almighty commanded me to expound to you.?

?Then Allah Almighty complained to me about my nation. One of His objections was this: ?I do not ask of them to perform anything ahead of time, all I ask is for them to do what they should in its own time. But, by contrast, they ask of Me to provide them ahead of time. While I have provided them perfectly for so many years, they are not satisfied, even though they do not know whether their lives will last long enough to use up what they have been given. Even so, their greed for the things of this world is ever increasing, and they complain of not having the wherewithal of a livelihood, always asking for more. Do they not regard the birds in the skyways? Every morn­ing the birds of the fields leave their nests with empty crops to return in the evenings having eaten their fill, though the whole world be cov­ered in snow. Does not your nation take a lesson from this? While the whole world is covered in snow and not a speck of earth is to be seen, He who provides the birds with their shares, will He not pro­vide them also with their own portions - why does your nation not place their reliance on Him who has forever guaranteed their subsistence?? ?The second complaint is this: ?I do not give their provisions to any other than them; in spite of this, they perform actions for the sake of other than Me (that is to say, they behave hypocritically and occasion false appearances). My third complaint is this: While they are consuming the portions that I have provided for them, their gratitude goes out to someone else. They will say, for instance, ?In my vineyard I had a harvest of so and so much and from my fields such an amount, from my trade so much.? But was it not I who caused the vines to grow in his vineyard and the crops in his field, and who gave him success in his commerce? Why do they remember Me not and mention not My Name when they speak of the yields of their vineyards and fields, and the profits of their trade? Wherefrom is this heedlessness, do they feel no shame??

 ?And My fourth complaint is this: Mine is all Might and Glory; it is I who grants Honour in this world, in the grave and in the world to come. Even so, they still look to honours coming from other sources. They will say, for instance, ?Were I only to occupy high office, I would surely grow very rich.? Thus they expect honour to come to them through riches and high of­fice, whereas all these are only of a passing nature. When death comes to them, all connection ceases. Does that signal true honour? It is My Command, by which they must abide, it is I who gives them Honour and Dignity in this world and the next.?

?My fifth complaint against them is this: I have created Hell for the unbelievers. Why is it that they persist in performing actions that will land them in Hellfire??

?To these charges against my nation, I replied, ?Oh my Lord, Your Word is true, my nation is guilty of all that You have laid against it. But You are He who covers all shame and forgives all sins; You are the Supremely Rich and Generous, the Clement and All-Forgiving Lord (ar-ra?uf wa-r-rahim). In Your Infinite Grace and Kindness, forgive them their failings, conceal their disgrace, and in Your Endless Benevolence, pardon their great and small sins! Let them be overtaken by Your Boundless Mercy and with Your All-Gracious Compassion lead them into the Paradise, oh My Lord!?

?In answer to this supplication, the Lord Almighty said to me, ?Had your nation not been so sinful, I would have created a na­tion of sinners, so that I might make Myself known as the Forgiver of Sins in that I granted them forgiveness. Oh Muhammed, ?You are My Beloved, as you are My servant. All Creation I have brought into being for your sake alone. Because of   your nation?s sins, I have created My Mercy Oceans. Oh Muhammed, regard the high sta­tion of honour and dignity you have been granted, in that you are honoured by an encounter with My Divine Beauty. I have granted you direct intercourse with My Divine Person without interpreter or intermediary. Whoever is acceptable to you is also acceptable to Me, and he who refuses you, is refused by Me, too.?

?Then He said, ?Indeed, you will be the first of all the Prophets to enter Paradise, and no Prophet can enter it before you. Your nation will be the first nation to enter Paradise and no other nation will be admitted before they have gone in.?

?After this He said, ?Oh Muhammed, set not your hopes on any nation of mankind, for they have nothing at all. Let your hopes always be pinned on Me and let your converse be with Me, for to Me is your return. Do not become attached to this world in your heart, for I have not created you for this world.?

?Then He Almighty said, ?Oh Muhammed, of your nation I have forgiven one third for your sake; another third I will forgive on the Day of Judgement, so that the high regard and station you occupy in My Regard may become clear to all creation on the Day of Gathering, oh Muhammed.?

?After this, the Almighty informed me of a great many weighty and important matters, but He denied me permission to divulge this knowledge to you.?

?It was made obligatory upon my nation to pray fifty times during one day and one night and to make ablutions for major impurity seven times, and to wash a defiled piece of clothing seven times. He com­manded me to make these conditions known to my nation in His Name. I then replied, ?Everyone who comes home from a journey, brings presents for those who remained at home; therefore, give me something to take back to my nation as a present.? The Lord Almighty then said, ?One of the gifts to your nation is this: as long as they reside in the world, I will be their Helper; I will protect them from disaster and calamity and I will grant success to their good actions. I will grant them various favours. When they pray to Me, I will accept their prayers, I will protect them from what they fear and I will grant them what they desire.?

?Another gift to your nation is this: When their lives come to an end, I will be their Helper. I will protect them from the wiles of Shaytan and I will give them tidings of Paradise and show them their stations within it. I will make it easy for them to draw their last breath and I will help them pass over into the Hereafter in safety.?

?Another gift to your nation is this: When they are placed within their graves, I shall be their only Helper. I will release them from the darkness and oppression of the grave, I will lighten their tombs and make them spacious and wide. I will assist them in an­swering the questions of the angels Munkar and Nakir and I will make their tombs to be as a Garden of Paradise.?

?Another gift to your nation is this: When they arise from their graves, I will be their sole Helper. I will raise them from their tombs and make them light of face and clothe them in garments from Paradise. I will help them mount upon their steeds and lead them to the site of the Gathering with an entourage of angels in a display of splendour and grace. I will spare them the terror of that Dire Day. I will lead them underneath your banner and give them to drink of the waters of the Pool of Kawthar. I will make them to be close associates and companions of the prophets, messengers, saints and martyrs and the righteous whom I have favoured with a place beneath the shadow of My Divine Throne. After having been given many special favours from Paradise, their books of reckoning will be placed in their right hands, and their accounts will be made light and their scales of the balance made heavy for them. I will help them cross the Bridge of Sirat with lightness and ease and lead them into the highest gardens of Paradise in the Boundlessness of My Grace.?

May Allah Almighty gladden our hearts with these gifts, which He granted us all for the sake of His Holy Prophet Muhammed (Sal), Amin! Oh Most Merciful of those that show Mercy!

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continues:

?The Lord then said to me, ?Oh Muhammed, of all created beings, you are the one who has reached the highest honours. On the Day of Resurrection I will give you such great honours as will stupefy the whole world with wonderment. Oh Muhammed, do you wish to behold what I have prepared for your nation?? I replied, ?Oh Lord, I wish to see it, yes.? He then said, ?My trusted servant, the angel Jibreel will show it to you.?

?As soon as I returned from there, Rafraf came into view. I seated myself upon him and he carried me down. I descended as far as the Sidra-t-ul-Muntaha where I met with Jibreel who said to me, ?Good tidings to you, oh Muhammed (Sal), for you have been cho­sen as the best of all Creation and the foremost of all Prophets and Messengers. The Lord Almighty has greeted and honoured you as He has not honoured any other created being, neither from among His Prophets or His Messengers, nor from among His Angels brought Nigh.?

?Then Jibreel said to me, ?Come with me, for I am to show you

Paradise.

?So he brought me to Paradise. On its gates I saw written these words:

For one gift of Sadaqa, ten rewards are granted.

To one who gives on loan, eighteen rewards are granted.

?I asked Jibreel, ?What is the secret wisdom of these lines, that one gift of Sadaqa carries ten merits, while a loan given carries eighteen merits after it?? Jibreel told me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), some­times Sadaqa is given to one who is in need, sometimes to one who is not. Not so, however with a loan: a loan is given only to him who is in need of it.?

?Upon the highest rim of the gates of Paradise I read these three lines:

In the first line was written:

LA ILAHA ILL?ALLAH, MUHAMMEDUN RASUL?ULLAH

In the second line was written:

ma qaddamna, wajadna; wa ma akalna, rabahna;

wa ma tarakna, khasirna.

(what we have sent before us, here we have found; what we have eaten has remained with us as gain; and what we have left behind, is our loss.)?

              ?In the language of the People of Paradise, this means to say: ?Of what we owned, that which we spent in the way of goodness, what we gave to the poor and the needy as Sadaqa, today we have found it here waiting for us. As for that part of our property which we used up and expended, we have already had the good use of it; as for that, which we have left behind us when we died, we were misled and now count it as our loss.?

?In the third line was written:

?The nation of Muhammed (Sal) is a nation of great and abounding sinfulness. Therefore they are so placed as to be the nation of Muhammed (Sal), so that they might find the light of guidance and become en­lightened. Herewith the Lord who is the All-Forgiving manifests the Bliss of Light upon Light. He forgives all their sins and transgres­sions, great and small, secret and obvious, committed knowingly or unknowingly, all vice and disgrace.   Through His Favour and Grace and Bounty, He aids them in attaining His all-encompassing Mercy, gratuitously, and He brings them into the highest of the Gardens of Paradise. He makes them taste the greatest delights and the highest joys of all, and He makes them endlessly satisfied. This is what distinguishes the nation of Muhammed (Sal) and endows them more highly than any other nation.?

As it is written in these verses of the Holy Book of the  Qur?an:

Say: ?Oh my people who have been prodigal

against yourselves, do not despair of

God?s mercy; surely God forgives sins

altogether; surely, He is the All-Forgiving,

the All-Compassionate.

                                                            (The Companies, 53)

as well as in another verse, which reads:

You are the best nation ever brought forth to men,

bidding to honour, and forbidding

dishonour, and believing in God.

Had the People of the Book believed,

it were better for them;

some of them are believers,

but the most of them are ungodly.

(The House of Imran,105)

To continue in the words of the Prophet Muhammed (Sal):

?The gate of Paradise was made of red gold, and the thick­ness of the doors was five hundred years of traveling. The gate had four hundred columns, which were of pearl, of topaz, of ruby and of emerald. In the middle of each of these pegs there was a great ring of red ruby stone of immense dimensions. In it were contained forty thousand cities, and each city had forty thousand domes. Within each of these domes dwelt forty thousand angels holding two platters each in their hands. One was filled with celestial raiment; the other was filled with light. I asked Jibreel about them and he told me, ?Oh Rasulullah, these angels were created eighty thousand years before Adam, and since that time they are waiting in this very place, bearing platters of light. Their sole purpose is to plead for you and for your nation. On the Day of Resurrection, when you appear before your nation in honour and bliss, the mo­ment your foot touches the threshold, these angels will welcome you and your nation and bestrew them with the contents of their platters as they pass through the gates of Grace and Bounty.?

?Then Jibreel knocked on the gates of Paradise. The guardian angel of the Garden, Ridwan called out asking, ?Who is it?? Jibreel answered, ?It is I, Jibreel.? ?And who is it with you?? asked the Keeper. ?He is Muhammed (Sal),? answered Jibreel. ?Has his time of prophet hood arrived then?? asked the angel from within. ?Yes, it has come,? replied Jibreel. ?Al-Hamdulillah!? said Ridwan and opened the gates. I then saw that the hinges of the door were of silver, its threshold was of pearl and its casings were of precious jewels.?

?We stepped inside and I beheld Ridwan, seated upon a carved throne, surrounded by a host of angels who stood in attendance. They gave me honour and saluted me with respect. I greeted them and gave my Salams. Ridwan answered me and wel­comed me with joy, giving me these good tidings, ?Most of the People of Paradise are from your nation.? I asked him, ?Tell me about my nation.? He said, The Lord Almighty has divided the Janna into three parts, two of which are appointed for your nation, while one is for all other nations.? In front of Ridwan there were a great number of keys, and I asked him, ?What are these keys?? He told me, ?When a person of your nation pronounces the words, La ilaha illallah, the Lord Almighty creates for him a mansion in Paradise, and He gives the keys to this mansion into my safekeeping. On the Day of Resurrection, when that person rises from his tomb, I give him the keys to his mansion and he takes up residence therein.?

?Then I noticed the helpers and assistant angels of Ridwan. One stood guarding the gate to the Garden and each one had seven hundred thousand other angels to serve him. But Ridwan had seventy thou­sand commanders, and each of these commanded a troop of seventy thousand angel soldiers.?

?The Tasbih I heard Ridwan utter was this:

Subhana-l-khallaqi-l-Alim,

Subhana-l-karimi-l-akram,

Subhana-l-musibu man a?tahu jannata-n-na?im..

(Praised be the All-Knowing Creator,

Praise be to the Most Bounteous of the Bountiful,

Praised be He who leads into Paradise Bliss

                                                            whosoever obeys Him.)?

?Then I was shown the bliss of Paradise. In a word, I beheld such a wealth of manifold delights that, even were I to spend the rest of my lifetime trying to describe them, it would not suffice to com­plete the task.?

?The walls of the Janna were thus: one brick was of gold, the next of silver. Then followed one of red ruby, and next one of green chrysolith, then a brick of pearl. In place of mortar, musk and camphor had been used. The thickness of the wall was a distance of five hundred years? traveling. At the same time it was so clear as to be transparent from inside out and outside in, as a window of glass. From there, all seven layers of the heavens and of the earth were visible, including the Divine Throne and the Divine Court. The soil of Paradise is made up of musk, amber and camphor, its grasses were of saffron-yellow and purple hues. The pebbles there consisted of emeralds, rubies and pearls. Then I beheld the habitations of Paradise; some where made of rubies, and their domes were of pearl. Some were of gems and their domes were of emeralds, while others were all of gold. In every mansion there were seventy thousand palaces and to every palace there were seventy thousand suites. Every suite consisted of seventy thousand rooms. In every room there was a throne, either made of silver or of gold. Upon each throne was a tent of beryl, in every tent there were seventy thousand beds of embroidered silk. Each of these differed from the other, and they were filled with amber and musk.?

?The Huris in them wore robes so transparent that their skin and flesh and bones, nay, even the marrow of their bones were visible. Each one of the Huris wore upon her head a crown embellished with jewels, and each had forty thousand locks of sweetly-scented hair curling down. Each lock was adorned with seventy thousand adornments, and each one of these trinkets separately emits the sweetest of notes, a delight to the ear. In front of each of the Huris seventy thousand servants stand in attendance. Around each of the thrones are set up stools made of silver, pearls, emeralds and camphor, each differing from the other.?

?Then I beheld the rivers of Paradise, of milk, of water, of wine and of honey. A branch of these four rivers flows to each one of the paradise homes and the water is whiter than camphor, sweeter than honey and its scent more fragrant than musk.?

?I also beheld there the springs of Rahiq, Salsabil and Tasnim. The banks of these rivers and the brim of these springs are of gold and pearls, of silver and rubies. The pebbles in the riverbeds and at the mouth of the springs are various precious gems and pearls of many colours. The foam upon the waters is of musk and amber, and around the fountainheads grow hyacinths and saffron crocus. The trees I saw there were so great that if a man on the back of a swift horse were to ride at full speed for seventy thou­sand years, he would not emerge from under its shade. The roots of these trees are of gold, their branches of ruby, pearls and chrysolith. Its leaves are of silk, brocade and velvet. Each one of its leaves reaches from one end of the world to the other. Each fruit of this tree is as great as a great water jug, and each one has seventy different flavours. Each of these fruits offers itself to the People of Paradise. Whenever they desire to eat of it, it falls from its branch and upon a platter of gold comes floating up to their mouths, without effort or a momen­t?s delay. Even were this tree to be at a distance of a thousand years wayfaring, as soon as one of the blessed wished for its fruit, it would be right there at his disposal, close to his lips. He would then eat from it as much as he wished, and after he had eaten, a new fruit would immediately take the place of the one consumed.?

?I also beheld birds in these trees of Paradise, alike unto camels. They were coloured in all the hues of Paradise. They flew about before the divans, singing hundreds of different tunes and melodies. The People of Paradise ask one of these birds, ?Which is more beautiful, your voice or your form?? and they re­ceive this answer, ?My flesh is the best of all.? After saying this, he instantly turns himself into a roasted fowl and presents himself to the dweller of Paradise, should he have expressed an appetite. He is just as he wants him to be, and after he has eaten, he instantly comes back to life and sings anew in the boughs of the tree. All these birds sing the praises of the people of Paradise.?

?I was shown eight different Paradise gardens, four of these were actual gardens and orchards.

Their names were:

1) Firdaws

2) Ma?wa

3) ?Adn

4) Na?im

The four others contained palaces and pavilions amidst gardens and orchards. These were:

5) Dar-us-Salam

6) Dar-ul-Jalal

7) Dar-ul-Qarar

8) Dar-ul-Khuld.

?In each of these four last-mentioned gardens there were gardens and flowering meadows as numerous as the stars in the night sky and grains of sand in the desert.?

?The sky of the highest Paradise is the base of the Divine Throne. I was shown only the mansions in the Paradise of ?Adn (Eden), and they were as the starry skies at night. A great many of them were destined for my companions and for people of my nation. Each of these mansions was as great as the distance between heaven and earth. Jibreel showed me these mansions and told me the names of those who were destined to inhabit them. I espied one which was higher and larger than the others and I asked whose was this great mansion. Jibreel told me, ?It is the mansion of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.? Then he showed me those belonging to ?Umar, ?Uthman and Ali.?

Here, the Holy Prophet (Sal) paused to turn to Abu Bakr and he said to him, ?Oh Abu Bakr, I have seen your palace in Paradise, it is made all of red gold. And I have seen all the immense favours and rewards, which lie in store for you there.? To this Abu Bakr replied, ?May the owner of that paradise pavilion be sacrificed for you, oh Prophet of Allah (Sal)!? The Holy Prophet (Sal) then went and told ?Umar that he had seen the palace destined for him in Paradise and that it was made of ruby. ?A great many Huris were there, and as I en­tered inside it, I remembered your jealousy.? 

After this he said to ?Uthman, ?I saw you in each of the heav­ens, and I have seen and regarded your house in Paradise.? After this He said to Ali, ?Oh Ali, I saw your shape in the fourth heaven. I asked Jibreel about it and he told me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), the angels yearned to see Ali, therefore the Lord Almighty created an angel in the form of Ali and placed him in the fourth heaven where the angels can go to visit him. Then I went inside your designated palace. I picked a fruit of one of the trees and sniffed at it. A Huri came out from it, drawing her veil across her face. I asked her, ?Who are you?? She answered, ?I was created for your brother and cousin Ali, oh Rasulullah (Sal).?

Then the Holy Prophet (Sal), the Messenger to both mankind and Jinn, the Imam of both Sanctuaries continued, ?Before me I heard footsteps and I asked Jibreel, ?Whose footfall is this?? He answered me, ?It is the tread of your Muadhdhin Bilal, oh Messenger of Allah!?

              According to one tradition, the Holy Prophet (Sal) asked Bilal, ?On the night of my Mihraj, I heard the sound of your step in the gardens of Paradise. What have you done to achieve such high rank?? Bilal answered the Prophet (Sal), ?There is nothing very special in my works. Only, as often as I break my Wudu?, I perform ablution anew, and after repeating my Wudu? I pray a prayer of two Rak?ats.? The Prophet (Sal) then said, ?These then are the actions which have allowed you to run ahead of me.?

The Holy Prophet (Sal) continued: ?Again I heard the sound of a footfall ahead of me and I asked Jibreel who told me, ?It is the step of Ghamsa bint Milhan, a daughter of one of the Ansar renowned for her patience in poverty.? I also saw two great mansions belong­ing to Zayd bin ?Amr bin Nufayl, and I asked wherefore he was so honoured. One reason was this: that he lived according to the law of ?Isa, and another was that he accepted the new law when I was given prophet hood and the law of ?Isa was superseded, and he lived by it for the rest of his days. Therefore he was given double reward.?

?Then I came upon domes built all of pearls. and their mor­tar was of musk. I asked Jibreel who they were meant for and he told me they were for the Imams and Muadhdhins of my nation.?

?And I saw this, too: Ja?far ibn Abi Talib flying along with the angels. And I saw my uncle Hamza reclining on a divan in the Gardens of Bliss. I saw also my wife Khadija of blessed memory in a pavilion of pearls built over one of the rivers of Paradise.?

The Tuba Tree

?I came upon a tree in Paradise of such beauty as nothing I had seen before this could equal. When I came up to its trunk and looked aloft, I realized how tremendous a tree it was. Its boughs spread out in all directions so that nothing else was to be seen but this tree. It gave of such a fine scent that in all Paradise I had not smelled anything finer. I examined the whole tree. Its leaves were white and red and green and yellow and each had a special coating and covering in the distinctive colours of Paradise. The fruits of this tree were like long poles. Each one of them contained the plea­sures and delights, all of the good tastes and smells that are found in heaven and on earth - all were assembled in a single fruit of this tree.?

?I remained spell-bound before the wondrous beauty of this tree and the loveliness of its form, and I asked Jibreel, ?What tree is this?? Jibreel told me, ?It?s name is ?Tuba?, it is the Tuba Tree.?

The Waters of Kawthar

?In the middle of the Janna, I saw a river that sprang from somewhere by the pillars on which rests the Divine Throne. Its flow was made up of water, milk, wine and honey, and yet these four did not mix. The banks of this river were of chrysolith and the pebbles of the riverbed were precious gems. Its mud was amber and its weeds were saffron crocusses. All along its banks were innumerable drinking cups of silver, as many as there are stars in the sky. Birds flew alongside whose necks were as the necks of camels. To eat of their flesh and to drink of the waters of that river - a sign of the Lord?s manifest Favour!?

?I asked Jibreel about this river and he told me, ?This is the water of Kawthar. Inform your nation of this. In every grove and garden of Paradise there flows a stream the waters of which rise from the spring of Kawthar.? Along the banks of this stream, I saw tents of pearl and red ruby. I asked Jibreel and he said, ?Those are the dwellings of your wives.? Within the tents I espied moon-faced Huris whose features shone with the radiance of the sun. All at once, they broke out into song, and this is what they sang:

?We always sing our tune, never do we tire;

We are always pleased, and we know no sadness;

We are always clothed, we are never bare.

We are forever young, and never shall grow old;

We are contented anytime, never are we cross.

We shall always be, never we shall die.

We belong to them, and they to us forever;

ah, ev­erlasting bliss!?

?The Huris? voices reached to all the far corners of Paradise. They reached every pavilion and every tree, and all resounded with such profound bliss that, were only the slightest part of it to reach the Earth, no trouble would remain upon it, nor death.?

?Jibreel then asked me, ?Do you wish to behold their beauty?? ?Indeed, I do,? I replied. Thereupon, one tent flap was lifted and I glimpsed a face of such beauty, that even were I to spend the rest of my life my life trying to describe it, I would not accomplish even a fraction of its description. Their faces were whiter than milk, their lips redder than red ruby, and more radiant than the sun. Their complexions were softer than the velvety petals of the red rose or the softest silken cloth. More luminous were they than the moon at its fullest, and their scent was more pleasing than musk. Their tresses were of the darkest shade of ebony. Some wore them plaited, while others wore their hair loose, and some bound it with ties. Those who wore their hair loosened were covered by it as by a tent when they were seated, their hair reaching down to their feet. Each had in front of her a servant. Jibreel explained to me, ?These are  intended for your nation.?

?One of the most amazing things I saw in the Janna were the four rivers that flowed through it.?

              As Allah Almighty describes in His Holy Book:

This is the similitude of Paradise,

which the God-fearing have been promised:

therein are rivers of water unstaling,

rivers of milk unchanging in flavour

and rivers of wine ? a delight to the drinkers,

rivers, too, of honey purified;

and therein for them is every fruit

and forgiveness from their Lord.

                                                                        (Muhammed, 16)

To continue in the Prophet?s (Sal) words:

?I asked Jibreel, ?Whence do these waters come and whither do they flow?? He told me, ?All I know is that they flow out of the pool of Kawthar, but their actual source I cannot tell. You are most highly esteemed in the Divine Presence; perhaps if you ask, you will be told.? While yet thinking about this matter, my eye fell upon an angel so great, Allah alone knows his true size. He had a great num­ber of wings and he spoke to me, saying, ?Place your blessed feet upon one of my wings and shut your eyes!? I did as he bade me, and he flew off. After a while he told me to open my eyes again, and when I did so, I beheld a tree. Beneath this tree, I saw a dome, which was so great that were you to place the whole world upon it, it would resemble a bird that has alighted upon a huge mountain. There was a golden key to this dome and it had a door made of beryl. I then perceived that the four rivers issued from beneath that dome.?

?After I had seen that much, I wished to return, but the angel said to me, ?Don?t you wish to enter that dome and find out the actual source of these waters?? ?The door is locked,? I an­swered. The angel replied, ?But you have the key.? ?What is that key?? I asked, marveling. The angel said, ?The key is this:    

BISMILLAHI-R-RAHMANI-R-RAHIM.

Speak these words, and the door will open.?

?So I stepped forward and spoke these words: ?BISMILLAHI-R-RAHMANI-RAHIM;? and lo, the door sprang open. I then saw that the four rivers flowed from the four walls of the building. The angel said to me, ?Look carefully!? and as I did so, I saw that on one wall were written the words; BISMI (In the Name of), on another wall: ALLAH (Allah), on the third wall: AR-RAHMAN (the All-Merciful), and on the fourth: AR-RAHIM (the All-Compassionate).

From the mouth of the letter ?mim? in the word AR-RAHMAN flowed the river of wine,

From the mouth of the letter ?mim? in the word AR-RAHIM flowed the river of honey.

From the mouth of the letter ?mim? in the word Bi-ISMI flowed the river of water;

From the eye of the letter ?ha? in the word ALLAH flowed the river of milk;

Thus I saw that the sources of the four rivers were these four holy words.?

?When I wished to depart from this place, a Divine Address came to me, saying,

Inni man dhakarani bi-hadhihi-l-kalimat

wa qala bi-qalbin salihin

?Bismillahirrahmanirrahim?

saqaitahu min hadhihi-l-anharu-l-arba?a.

(Whoever remembers Me by speaking these words

BISMILLAHI-R-RAHMANI-R-RAHIM

with a pure heart and sincere intent,

him I will give to drink from these four rivers of Paradise.)

All Praise is due to the Lord of the Worlds, Amin.?

?I saw some palaces and pavilions of the Janna, which were of pearls and rubies. Between each of them lay a distance as great as east is removed from west. I asked Jibreel, ?For whom are these pavilions?? and he told me, ?They are for such people as took a blind man by the hand and led him for seven paces.? I asked, ?Shall I give news of this to my nation?? and he answered, ?Yes, give them the good news, but know that there is even better cheer yet ahead, and tell them of that as well. If a Muslim rises in the morning, saying ?Bismillahir-rahmani-r-rahim?, then makes his ablution and prays his morning prayer, Allah Almighty will prepare for him a place in Paradise which is twenty times as large as the Earth from east to west.?

?After this, I came to see Idris, the Prophet, and I saluted him. He returned my Salams ceremoniously and bade me welcome. I then said to him, ?What a beautiful place you have come to dwell in!? He said to me in response, ?What is it to me; if only I could have been in the world now to be reckoned as one of your nation!? I then said, ?You have been spared the pangs of death and have reached this high station; what do you want of the world?? He answered me, ?And if I had to suffer the death throes of the entire world since the day of its creation, if only I had been honoured to be alive in your time, thus to be counted as one of your nation. I then asked him, ?Oh my brother Idris, what is the reason for this desire of yours?? He replied, ?Whichever Paradise mansion I go to, however many Huris I turn towards, all of them are saying, ?We belong to the nation of Muhammed (Sal).?

?One day I came to a mountain, which they call the ?Jabal-ur-Rahma?, the Mount of Mercy. Its peak reaches up to the Divine Throne and it is made of musk and amber. There are two entrances set upon this mountain, both made of pure white silver. The dis­tance between these two doors is so great that a rider galloping in haste upon a swift steed for five hundred years would not be able to cross it. Inside it were such a great number of palaces and man­sions that would be impossible to enumerate. To attempt to de­scribe their beauty and splendour is likewise beyond all human means. I asked, to which one of the Prophets do these mansions belong ?? The Lord Almighty then addressed me, saying, ?This is not a place belonging to any Prophet, but for any one of the nation of Muhammed who prays two Rak?ats, to him I will give a mansion here.? For these reasons I wish to belong to your nation.?

?In a word, I there witnessed Divine Gifts of Grace such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no man?s heart has ever imagined. After all was done, I left the Janna together with the Angel Jibreel and we descended once more to the seventh heaven. I spoke to the Prophet Ibrahim. We saluted each other and he con­gratulated me on my Mihraj. He did not put any questions to me.?

?Then we descended to the sixth heaven and I met the Prophet Musa who also congratulated me on the Mihraj. We greeted one an­other, then he asked me, ?Oh Rasulullah (Sal), what has been imposed upon your nation?? I began to tell him, ?The Lord has commanded them to pray fifty times during one night and one day, to fast six months of the year, to wash seven times when having incurred a state of major impurity, and to wash a contaminated garment seven times to purify it.?  When Musa had heard all this, he replied, ?Your nation has not the strength to keep all these commands. By Allah, before your time, I have experienced the nature of man, I employed various and sundry means to persuade my nation, the Bani Isra?il, by oath and by injunction. Still, they could not fulfill this obligation. Go back, implore the Lord that He lessen the burden for your nation.?

?Thereupon I turned back until I reached the Sidra-t-ul-Muntaha where I threw myself down in prostration before the Lord, pleading with Him, ?Oh my Lord, my nation is a weak nation; fifty prayer times a day, six months of fasting, seven purification baths, they and I will not be able to keep, and we will fall short of our requirements. By Thine Grace and Loving kindness, lighten our load!?

              ?After this plea, ten prayer times, one month of fasting and one bath were lifted. Again I met the Prophet Musa and told him what I had been given. He said, ?Your nation will still not be able to carry forty periods of prayer, five months of fasting and six purifica­tion baths, they will fall short of their requirement. Have pity on your nation and plead for their load to be lightened. ?So again I went back to the Sidra and begged Allah to lighten my nation?s burden. Again ten prayer times, one month of fasting and one bath were lifted from them. I came back to the Prophet Musa and told him what I had received. He said, ?Your nation is a weak nation, thirty times of prayer, four months of fasting and five baths are still too much for them. Go back and ask for their load to be light­ened.? Again I returned to the Sidra and threw myself down before the Almighty, praying that He might lift some more of the load off my nation, and again my prayer was granted. I came back and spoke once more to the Prophet Musa; again he sent me back, and I went yet again to plead with the Lord and to ask for more lightening of the task. In this way it went on, until I had received the command for my na­tion to keep five prayer times during one night and one day; to fast one month a year; to bathe once for purification and to wash their polluted garment once only. When I came back and told Musa what the Lord had commanded, he said, ?Go back again and ask to be given less.? But I replied, ?I have now gone many times and asked for the load to be lightened for my nation, and each time the Lord granted it to me. I am ashamed to go back again; this much I am willing to ac­cept.?

?After I had left Musa, I received a Divine Call, ?I have light­ened the load of worship for My servants, I accept that they pray five prayers daily. Oh Muhammed, let them pray five times a day and I will grant them the reward of fifty prayers. Anyone belonging to your nation who intends an act of goodness and later fails to carry it out, I will grant him one reward in accordance with his intention. If he performs the action as he intended, I will grant him a tenfold reward, and increase it up to seven hundred fold, layer upon layer of recompense. Even if he in­tends to perform a sinful action and in the end he does not do so after all, I will write a reward for him for not having committed a sin. And should he commit it, I will write for him a single sin.?

?After this, I climbed upon the wing of the Angel Jibreel and we came to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis (Jerusalem). I saw the Buraq tied to the ring where I had left him. I entered the mosque and prayed there two Rak?ats of thanks to Allah Almighty for His Infinite Grace and Favour, Mercy and Munificence upon me, all praises be to Him Almighty! Then I mounted again upon the Buraq and in less time than it takes to bat an eyelid, I arrived back in Mecca. By the Infinite Power of Allah, I found that during my absence my bed had not even grown cold yet.?

The Duration of the Mi?raj

?Ammar told us, ?The Mihraj of our Holy Prophet (Sal) took place in three hours.?

Abdullah bin Munabbih however tells us, ?Rasulullah?s (Sal) Mihraj was accomplished within four hours.?

The truth of the matter is that Allah alone knows how long it really took. It is one of the articles of our faith to fully believe in the real­ity of this Mihraj. Whoever refuses to believe that the Holy Prophet (Sal) went as far as Jerusalem is reckoned an unbeliever. For there are hard proofs for this fact, as declared in the Holy Book of the Qur?an,

Glory be to Him who carried His servant by night

from the Holy Mosque to the Further Mosque

the precincts of which We have blessed,

that We might show him some of Our signs.

He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

(The Night Journey, 1)

Whoever denies that the Prophet (Sal) actually ascended from the Masjid-ul-Aqsa (Jerusalem) to the heavens is a heretic (lit.: an inventor of harmful innovations) and has gone astray. For it has been determined by way of Hadiths of many different paths of extraction that the Prophet (Sal) did actually ascend to the heavens. We declare our belief and confirm them all.

Therefore, because the honour of ascension was granted to him, the Holy Prophet (Sal) bears the epithet of ?Sahib-ul-Mihraj?, ?He who was granted ascension to the heavens?.

May Allah?s Blessing and Benediction be upon him, Amin.

The Prophet?s (Sal) Return from his Mihraj

Another one of the Holy Prophet?s (Sal) names is al-Muayyad, ?he who is strengthened, corroborated?, for that Allah Almighty confirmed all that he brought home from his Mi?raj.

When Muhammed (Sal) returned from his Mihraj, he asked the angel Jibreel, ?Who will believe me when I tell them that I have  performed a Mihraj?? Jibreel then answered him, ?Abu Bakr will confirm whatever you say, for he is Siddiq, Truthful.?

When it was morning, the Holy Prophet (Sal) stepped forth into the Haram-ash-Sharif in an exalted state of bliss and enlightenment. When he sat down, Abu Jahl, the enemy of Allah went up to him and, seeing the Prophet (Sal) in an aura of light and majesty, he thought to himself, ?There is something strange about this; let me go and find out and see whether I can?t manage to annoy him a bit.? So he sat down beside the Holy Prophet (Sal) in order to vex him in some way and said to him in mockery, ?Oh Muhammed (Sal), you look so happy. I guess you must have come across something useful?? ?Yes indeed,? replied the Holy Prophet (Sal). Abu Jahl then went on, ?And what was that?? ?Last night the Angel Jibreel came to me and took me along with him while I was wide awake..? Abu Jahl asked, ?Where did he take you to?? The Holy Prophet (Sal) answered, ?He led me from the Kaaba-t-ul-Mukarrama to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis (Masjid-ul-Aqsa). Abu Jahl then asked, ?You are telling me, that this very night you were at the Masjid-ul-Aqsa (in Jerusalem), and that you came back to Mecca and are right here among us this morning?? ?Yes,? replied the Holy Prophet (Sal), the Rightly-Guided Messenger, the Intercessor on the Day of Reckoning. Abu Jahl then had this suggestion to make, ?If I called together the people, would you repeat to them what you have just told me?? ?Yes,? said the Holy Prophet (Sal). Thereupon, Abu Jahl called out in a loud voice so all could hear, ?Come here, all you sons of Ka?b, oh people of Quraysh!?

When they had all assembled and were seated around him, Abu Jahl turned to the Prophet Muhammed (Sal) and asked him to repeat before the assembled Quraysh what he had told him privately.  The Holy Prophet (Sal) then said, ?Last night Jibeeil came to me and took me along with him.? ?Where did he take you to?? everyone wanted to know. ?He took me to the Bayt-ul-Maqdis, to Jerusalem,? said the Prophet (Sal). They said, ?Last night you went all the way to Jerusalem and yet you are here among us this morning?? To this the Holy Prophet (Sal), the Prince of the Prophets, the Light of the Eyes of the Saints replied, ?Yes, indeed.? But they would not believe him and cried him lies.

Aisha as-Siddiqa (the Truthful) relates the following concerning this controversy:

?When the story of the Mihraj became known, some of those who had declared their faith earlier, apostatized and fell away from their new faith. Some of the idolaters went to Abu Bakr and told him about this. His response was to ask them, ?Is that really what he says?? ?Yes, that is what he claims.? ?If he says so, then it must be true. If he says that he went and came back in one night, then he truly did do so.? Again they asked him, ?Do you then confirm the claims he makes?? Abu Bakr replied, ?And were he to claim to have gone even farther than that and to have returned in that same night, I would believe him and confirm the truth of it.?

From that day on, Abu Bakr was given the by-name ?as-Siddiq?, a title meaning ?the eminently Truthful?.?

The assembled idolaters challenged the Holy Prophet (Sal), saying, ?We know what the Holy Mosque, the Bayt-ul-Maqdis in Jerusalem looks like; if you have truly been there, you will be able to answer our questions when we ask you concerning its shape and aspect? There are many among us who have been there on repeated occasions. If you can give the answers corresponding to reality, it will be known that you have really been there.?

Then they began to ask him questions concerning the appearance of the Bayt-ul-Maqdis. The Lord of Absolute Power, Allah Almighty then revealed to the Holy Prophet (Sal) a vision of the Bayt-ul-Maqdis at Jerusalem, so that he saw it before his very eyes. Whatever they asked him about it, he was able to describe to them all the details of the holy site. The men listening to him were forced to admit, ?By God, everything he tells us about it is true. Even those among us who have been there many times could not describe it in such accurate detail.? Then they said, ?We are not satisfied to hear that you went there and came back. Tell us about our caravans.? The Holy Prophet (Sal) then said, ?I chanced upon such-and-such a caravan belonging to a certain tribe at a place named Rawha. They had lost one of their camels and were searching for it. I was very thirsty, and there happened to be a cup of water there. I took it and drank from it, then I placed it back where it had been. When the men of the caravan return to you, ask them about this cup of water: did they find it full of water, or not??

Later this caravan arrived. People questioned them as the Prophet (Sal) had told them. They confirmed all he had said and recounted, ?At Rawaha we had lost our camel and we went in search of it. When we returned, we found that someone had drunk the water we left in the cup, it was empty.?

They asked the Prophet (Sal), ?Tell us about our caravan, which was journeying in the other direction.? The Prophet (Sal) agreed and said to them, ?I met them in a place called Tan?im.? Then they asked him to relate in greater detail their numbers and burdens and beasts, and when their return to Mecca could be expected. The Holy Prophet (Sal) replied to every one of their questions, giving even the names of the men in the caravan. He said, ?On such and such a day at sunrise, this caravan will arrive, and at its head will go a white camel, tinged with black.?

On the day he had indicated, all those assembled went out into the desert to watch for the caravan?s arrival, though there was still no sign of it. Some said, ?It arrived at the time he said it would.? Others said ?As soon as the sun rose, the caravan appeared.? Others again said, ?The caravan was seen with a white camel leading it.? They confirmed everything the Prophet (Sal) had said about the caravan and all turned out to be true. They all witnessed these events, but in spite of the fact that there could be no doubt as to the Prophet?s (Sal) journey to Jerusalem and his return in one night, not one of them believed in him, all called him a liar. 

One day after his Mihraj, the Angel Jibreel came again to the Holy Prophet (Sal) who was in a state of vexation because of his nation. The angel said to him, ?Oh Prophet of Allah (Sal), do not grieve all that much over your nation, for today I have come to you with great good tidings.? The good tidings he brought were these:

?In the fourth heaven there is an angel who commands twelve thousand angels. During your Mihraj, when all the other angels rose from their places to greet you, this angel did not rise to his feet along with the others. Today when I passed by the gate of that heaven, I heard the sound of moaning, and when I turned to look, I saw that the sad sound came from that particular angel whom I was used to seeing. I saw that his wings had been plucked, and his light had been taken from him, he lay bundled in a corner, sighing pitifully. When he saw me, he began to weep. I said to him, ?Why do you weep, you who are such a great and honoured angel?? He said, ?I am that angel, but I have committed a grave error. For my Lord has reproached me, saying, ?Why, when My Beloved Prophet (Sal) came to the heavens to visit you, did you not rise to welcome him?? I answered, ?Oh my Lord, at that time I was so absorbed in my worship and adoration of Your Almighty Holiness that I did not think of deflecting my attention to anything else. I saw Muhammed (Sal) coming, but I did not think it so important an event.?

?The Lord then loosed His Wrath against me, and brought me into this condition in which you behold me now, my light withdrawn, my feathers plucked, and myself demoted from my angelic station. Oh Jibreel, pray, intercede for me with my Lord!? I therefore prayed to the Lord and begged Him to pardon His angel?s failing, who pledged never to commit another act of negligence. The Lord Almighty then replied, ?Let him recite Salat-wa-Salam on My Holy Prophet (Sal), and I will forgive him.?

?I went and told this to the angel, who immediately started reciting peace and blessings upon the Prophet (Sal), and when he had recited them ten times, all his wing feathers had grown back, and he flew off joyfully.?

?This is the good news I have come to tell you, oh Rasulullah (Sal). For the Lord will forgive and pardon all those from your nation who recite peace and blessings to you with a loving heart and He will grant them access to Paradise.?

When the Holy Prophet (Sal) came out to his companions after this, his face was as radiant as the moon at its fullest, and he smiled so broadly that his back teeth showed. He then informed his companions of the good tidings the angel had brought him, of how the Lord would forgive all those who recited Salat-wa-Salam upon him, and all his blessed Companions rejoiced with him.

Allahumma salli wa sallam wa barik ?ala

Sayyidina Muhammedin wa ?ala alihi wa sahbihi

wa sallam tasliman,

wa-l-hamdu-lillahi-rabbi-l-?alamin.

                                                     The End