(p-286) Surah 'Al-Isra'

And it is called 'Subhan' and 'Bani Isra'il'.

What is meant by it is turning to Allah alone; and casting off all that is besides Him; for He alone is the owner of the details of matters; and the preference of some of creation over others; and that is the practice of piety; the lowest of which is the oneness of Allah; which is opened with in 'An-Nahl'; and its highest is excellence; which is concluded with; and it is the annihilation of everything besides Allah; and it is among the first of what was revealed; Al-Bukhari narrated in the virtues of the Qur'an; and others; from Ibn Mas'ud - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: 'Bani Isra'il'; and 'Al-Kahf'; and 'Maryam'; and 'Ta-Ha'; and 'Al-Anbiya'; indeed they are among the first freed ones; and they are among my lineage.

And each of its names clearly indicates what has been mentioned as its purpose; as for 'Subhan'; which is a term for glorification; it is among the clearest in it; for whoever is at the utmost purity from every deficiency; is deserving that we do not worship anyone but Him; and that we turn away from all that is besides Him; because He is characterized by what has been mentioned; and as for 'Bani Isra'il'; whoever is also acquainted with the details of (p-287) their matter in their journey to the holy land; which is like the Isra; and their being given the Book; and what has been mentioned along with that of their matter in this Surah; knows that.

'In the name of Allah'; the King, the owner of all matters; 'the Most Gracious'; to all that He has created; by what He has nurtured; 'the Most Merciful'; to whom He has specifically obligated to act by what pleases Him.

When the aim of 'the night journey' was to be free from hastiness and other attributes of deficiency, and to be characterized by perfection, which results from His ability to perform tremendous matters, including making the Hour like the blink of an eye or closer. And its conclusion after the preference of Ibrahim - blessings be upon him - and the command to follow him, pointing to the victory of His allies, despite their weakness at that time and their fewness against their enemies, who were numerous and strong. This was among the extraordinary events and the deficiencies of the usual occurrences. And His command to be patient and to do good, He began this by affirming what the conclusion indicated, by what He broke from the norm in the night journey. And by purifying His noble self from the thought of distancing that, as a reminder that He is capable of doing many great and difficult matters in the quickest time, to dispel what may be imagined or to be obstinate about by those who hear His prohibition against hastiness and His command for patience. And a clarification that He is with the pious doer of good, and a mention of the matter of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him and his family - and an announcement that he is the chief of the doers of good, and the highest among them in rank, and the greatest among them in status, due to what He has given him of the special qualities, among which is the praised station. And an illustration of what He informed about the matter of the Hour, He said (the Most High): 'Glorified'; and it is a sign of purification, indicating the most eloquent of what it could mean, established by an action whose manifestation is omitted, so it suffices its place. 'The One who journeyed'; thus He purified His noble self from every blemish of deficiency that His enemies could attribute to Him with this most eloquent expression, following the command for patience at the end of 'the night journey', just as He purified His noble self with that expression after the prohibition against hastiness at the beginning of it. And it is a response to what is known of their rejection of Him and their denial of Him when He informed them about the night journey. And in it, there is also a hint of amazement at this story, to indicate that it is among the matters of great magnitude to the extent that it cannot be fully described.

And when the preposition was limited to conveying the meaning of transference in 'journeyed', which means 'to journey', and 'journeyed' is used transitively and intransitively, He expressed it with it; and the intransitive was chosen to indicate companionship, increasing in honor. So He said (the Most High): 'By His servant'; meaning: the one who is the noblest of His servants and most deserving of being attributed to Him, who has never worshipped anyone else but Him, neither an idol nor anything else, for the hope of intercession or otherwise.

And when the Isra' is the journey by night; and a thing may be referred to as part of its meaning; by the indication of implication metaphorically; this is negated by His saying (the Most High): ﴿by night﴾. And to indicate by the tanween of diminishment that this great matter was in a small part of the night; and that he - blessings and peace be upon him - did not need - in the Isra' and the ascension to the Sidrat al-Muntaha and hearing the speech from the Most High - to exert himself with fasting or anything else; rather he was prepared for that; qualified for it; so He (the Most High) took him from the bed to the Throne; ﴿from the Sacred Mosque﴾; meaning: from the honored Ka'bah; the mosque of Ibrahim - peace be upon him -; it is said: he was sleeping in the Hatim; and it is said: in the Hijr; and it is said: in the house of Umm Hani - and this is the opinion of the majority -; so the intended meaning of the mosque at that time is the sanctuary; because it is the courtyard of the mosque; ﴿to the farthest mosque﴾; meaning: which is the farthest mosque at that time; and the farthest of the two greatest mosques absolutely from the honored Makkah; between them is forty nights; so he prayed with all the prophets; Ibrahim; and Musa; and others among them - upon all of them the best prayer and peace -; and he saw from Our signs what We had destined for him; and he returned to among you to the nearest mosque to you in that small part of the night; while you are traveling with the camel's legs in this distance for a month going; and a month returning; then He described him with what necessitates His glorification; and that he is worthy of the destination; so He said (the Most High): ﴿which We have blessed﴾; meaning: by what We have of greatness; with waters; and trees; and that it is the abode of the prophets; and the descent of the angels; and the place of worship; and the source of fruits and provisions; and blessings; ﴿around it﴾; meaning: for its sake; so what do you think of it itself?! For it is more eloquent than "We have blessed in it"; then from it to the highest heavens; to the Sidrat al-Muntaha; to what no human has attained other than him - may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace; and honored; and esteemed; and revered; and magnified forever -; and perhaps he omitted mentioning the Mi'raj from the Qur'an here due to the inadequacy of their understanding to grasp its evidence; if they denied it; unlike the Isra'; for indeed he established its proof upon them by what they witnessed of the signs which he described to them; and they are certain that he - blessings and peace be upon him - had not seen them before that; so when his truth became clear by what he mentioned of the signs; he informed afterward whom Allah willed about the Mi'raj; then he mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - the purpose of the Isra'; by what increases the glorification of the mosque, so He said: ﴿to show him﴾; with his eye; and his heart; ﴿of Our signs﴾; the heavenly and earthly; as We showed his father the Friend - peace be upon him - the dominion of the heavens and the earth; and He made the turning (to glorify) the signs and blessings; Al-Bukhari narrated from Abu Huraira - may Allah be pleased with him - who said: "The Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him and his family - was brought on the night he was taken on the Isra' to Al-Aqsa with two cups of wine; and milk; so he looked at them; and he took the milk; and Jibril - peace be upon him - said: 'Praise be to Allah who has guided you to the fitrah; if you had taken the wine, your nation would have gone astray.'"

And from Jabir - may Allah be pleased with him -: I heard the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - say: "When Quraysh denied me, I stood in the Hijr; then Allah showed me Bayt al-Maqdis, and I began to inform them about its signs while I was looking at it."

And when the reliance is often on the senses of hearing and sight to perceive the signs; and the complete benefit from that is indeed through knowledge; and He - glorified and exalted is He - has specifically granted this Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - the perfection of sense; which makes the sense of others considered as non-existent; He expressed all of that by His saying (the Most High): ﴿Indeed, He﴾; meaning: this servant whom We have chosen for the Isra; ﴿is﴾; meaning: specifically; ﴿the Hearing﴾; meaning: an ear; and a heart; in responding to us; and submitting to our commands; ﴿the Seeing﴾; sight and insight; as evidence of what he informed about from the signs; and he confirmed it from the indications; when he described (p-292) what they asked him about from Bayt al-Maqdis; and from the matter of their caravan; and others; from what is well-known in the story of Isra; from what he was seeing while he was describing to them; and they could not see it; nor could they approach it; nor did they hope for it; and those who entered among them to Bayt al-Maqdis said: As for the description; by Allah; he has indeed hit the mark; inform us about our caravan; so he informed them of the number of its camels; and their conditions; and said: It will arrive on such a day; with the rising of the sun; led by a green camel; so they went out that day towards the pass, hastening; and one said: This; by Allah; the sun has risen; and another said: This; by Allah; the caravan has come; led by a green camel; just as Muhammad said; then they did not believe; and they said: This is nothing but clear magic.

Imam al-Razi said in "al-Lawami'": And he - blessings and peace be upon him - saw all that is in the dominion; with the seeing eye, witnessing; he did not have any doubt about it; until it was narrated that he said: "I saw on the night I was taken to the heights, an ant moving on the surface of the earth from the Sidrat al-Muntaha;" and this is due to the sharpness of his sight; and sight is of different types: the sight of the spirit; and the sight of the intellect; from which comes the oneness; and the sight of closeness; which is specifically given to the saints; and it is the light of insight; and the sight of prophethood; and the sight of messengership; and all these sights are combined for our Messenger - blessings and peace be upon him; and he was honored; and respected; and revered; and always magnified; and he has an increase in the sight of the leadership of the messengers; and their chief; for he is the master of the messengers; and their leader; (p-293) and he was aware of the kingdom; and the dominion; as he said: "The earth has been made to appear to me; its east and west;" it has ended. And this last one was narrated by Muslim; and Abu Dawood; and al-Tirmidhi; from Thawban - may Allah be pleased with him - that he - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "Indeed, Allah (the Exalted) made the earth appear to me; so I saw its east and west;" and he could see behind him; as he sees in front of him - as reported by the two Shaykhs; and others; from the hadith of Anas - may Allah be pleased with him -; and in many of its chains, there is no restriction to the prayer; and this is explicit that his sight was not confined to the eye; rather Allah (the Exalted) created sight in all of his limbs; and likewise hearing; for the fact that the eye is a place for that; and likewise the ear; is only by the making of Allah; and if He had made that in other than them, it would have been as He wills - glorified is He - and there is no hindrance; and darkness did not prevent him from the penetration of sight; for in the Musnad of Ahmad; "from Jabir ibn Abdullah - may Allah be pleased with both of them - he said: I lost my camel one night; and I passed by the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - while he was tying for Aisha (p-294) - may Allah be pleased with her -; and he said: "What is wrong with you, O Jabir?" I said: I lost my camel; or it went away on a dark night; and he said to me: "This is your camel; go take it;" so I went towards what he told me; but I did not find it; so I returned to him; and I said: By my father and mother, O Messenger of Allah; I did not find it; and he said to me: "Take your time;" until when he finished; he took my hand and set off; until we came to the camel; and he handed it to me; he said: "This is your camel;" the hadith; and al-Bayhaqi narrated in "Dalail al-Nubuwwah"; from Ibn Abbas - may Allah be pleased with both of them - he said: "The Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - used to see at night in the darkness; as he sees in the day in the light;" and a similar narration was reported from Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her -; and Qadi Iyad said in "al-Shifa": Baqi ibn Makhlad narrated from Aisha - may Allah be pleased with her - she said: "The Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - used to see in the darkness; as he sees in the light;" and it was narrated from Abu Huraira - may Allah be pleased with him - "from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - that he said: When Allah manifested to Musa - peace be upon him - he could see an ant on the rock; in the dark night; a journey of ten farsakhs."

And it is permissible that the specialty of our Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him and his family - with that is after the Night Journey; this has ended; and the hadith of Abu Huraira has been narrated by the حافظ نور الدين الهيثمي in the Zawa'id of the two Musnads; the larger and the smaller; of Al-Tabarani; and perhaps this is related to the context of following this verse with the mention of Musa, peace be upon him.

And Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair said: When His saying precedes: ﴿Indeed, Ibrahim was a nation, obedient to Allah, inclining toward truth﴾ [An-Nahl: 120]; to His saying (Exalted is He): ﴿Then We revealed to you to follow the religion of Ibrahim, inclining toward truth﴾ [An-Nahl: 123]; the apparent meaning of this is the preference of Ibrahim - peace be upon him - over Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - and over all the prophets, especially with the command to follow. This was followed by Surah 'Al-Isra'; and it contains from the characteristics of our Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - and encompasses what is established in the authentic narrations, and what is agreed upon, that he - blessings and peace be upon him; and he was honored, and revered, and respected, and magnified - is the leader of the children of Adam. Thus, the Surah was opened with the story of Al-Isra; and it contains - according to what is found in the authentic narration of Muslim and others - his standing with the prophets - peace be upon them - and among them are Ibrahim, and Musa, and others from the prophets, without exception. This is the narration of Thabit from Anas - may Allah be pleased with him -; and in the narration of Abu Huraira - may Allah be pleased with him - that he - blessings and peace be upon him; and he was honored, and revered, and respected, and magnified always forever - praised his Lord and said: "All praise is due to Allah who sent me as a mercy to the worlds; and for all people; as a bearer of good tidings and a warner; and He revealed to me the Qur'an in which is the clarification of all things; and made my nation the best nation brought forth for mankind; and made my nation a middle nation; and made my nation the first ones; and they are the last ones; and He expanded my breast; and removed my burden from me; and raised my mention; and made me the opener; and the seal." Then Ibrahim - peace be upon him - said: "By this, Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - has been preferred over you." In the narration of Abu Huraira - may Allah be pleased with him - through the route of Al-Rabi' ibn Anas; and he mentioned Sidrat al-Muntaha; "And indeed, He - Blessed and Exalted - said to him: (Ask); so he said: "Indeed, You have taken Ibrahim as a friend; and granted him a great kingdom; and spoke to Musa with a direct speech; and granted Dawud a great kingdom; and made iron soft for him; and subjected to him the mountains; and granted Sulayman a great kingdom; and subjected to him the jinn, and mankind, and the devils, and the winds; and granted him a kingdom that is not suitable for anyone after him; and taught 'Isa the Torah and the Gospel; and made him heal the blind and the leper; and protected him and his mother from the accursed devil; so he had no way over them." Then his Lord - Blessed and Exalted - said to him: (I have taken you as a beloved; it is written in the Torah: Muhammad, the beloved of the Most Merciful; and I have sent you to all people; and I have made your nation the first ones; and the last ones; and I have made it not permissible for them to give a sermon until they bear witness that you are My servant and My Messenger; and I have made you the first of the prophets in creation; and the last of them in resurrection; and I have given you seven of the oft-repeated verses; and I have not given them to any prophet before you; and I have given you the concluding verses of Surah 'Al-Baqarah' from a treasure beneath the Throne; I have not given them to any prophet before you; and I have made you the opener and the seal).

And in the hadith of Shurayk, he saw Musa - blessings and peace be upon him - in the seventh heaven; he said: by the preference of the words of Allah; he said: then he ascended above that which none knows except Allah; Musa said: "I did not think that anyone would be raised above me." And in the hadith of Ali ibn Abi Talib - may Allah be pleased with him - narrated by al-Bazzar; regarding his teaching - blessings and peace be upon him - of the adhan; and the coming of the angel; he said - blessings and peace be upon him and his family -: "O Jibril; who is this?" He said: "By Him who sent you with the truth; I am the closest of creation in position; and this angel (p-298) I have never seen since I was created before this hour of mine." And in it: "Then the angel took the hand of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him and his family - and brought him forward; and he led the inhabitants of the heavens; among them were Adam and Nuh." And in this hadith, Abu Ja'far; Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn; its narrator said: On that day, Allah completed for Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him and his family; and he was honored; and he was esteemed; and he was revered; and he was magnified -; the honor over the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth; Ibn al-Zubayr said: And from him, his preference was established - blessings and peace be upon him and his family; and he was honored; and he was esteemed; and he was revered; and he was magnified forever -; by the Isra; and his being specifically chosen for that; then the surah concluded with the mention of the praised station; which is his station in the great intercession; and that is what he was specifically honored with; as has been established in the authentic reports; and the consensus of the people of the Sunnah has been established upon it; and I do not know in the glorious Book a surah that contains from his specific qualities - blessings and peace be upon him and his family; and he was honored; and he was esteemed; and he was revered; and he was magnified forever -; which has preferred him over all the prophets - upon them be the best prayers and peace - like what this surah contains; and all praise is due to Allah; it has ended.