And when the royal messenger, who is Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him, described him with these five attributes that removed all ambiguity from the Qur'an, his description was indeed for the purpose of affirming the honor of the human messenger who is between the truth and the generality of creation, which is the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that what he says is the speech of Allah, truly. They used to describe him with what is the utmost purity from him, while they knew that. He refuted them by exposing their lies and reproaching them for their dullness by saying, as an addition to his honor, where he was the defender of it: "And your companion is not mad," meaning the one whose companionship has been long for you, and you know that he is in the utmost perfection, so much so that he has no description among you except 'the trustworthy.' And he deepened the negation by saying: "by a madman," meaning as you accuse him of it without any shame from the apparent lies, with the emergence of contradiction, the act of the most despicable of the despicable. Rather, he came with the truth and confirmed the messengers. So what is the Qur'an that he recites to you is the saying of a madman, nor is it a saying that is moderate in intellect, but rather the saying of the most rational of the rational and the most complete of the complete. And this confirmed negation is always established for him in a way that encompasses every time. This is what the words indicate, not what al-Zamakhshari said that it indicates the superiority of Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him, over the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and over the rest of the angels. For it was not intended for that, nor is it, by Allah, what pleases Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Esfahani said here: This indicates his virtue, but as for it indicating that he is superior to all the angels and to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, that is not possible. And he said regarding His saying, the Exalted, in Al-Baqarah: "and His angels and His messengers" [Al-Baqarah: 98] that the precedence of the angels in mention does not necessitate their superiority over the messengers. And as for the precedence of Gabriel over Michael, it is not far that it is for honor, just as their specification in mention is for their virtue. And he said in Al-Najm: "Then Gabriel drew near to his Lord, the Mighty and Majestic." And this is the saying of Mujahid, which is supported by what has been narrated in the hadith: "Indeed, the closest of the angels to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, is Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him." - End. And if this hadith were authentic, it would have been sufficient, but I did not find it at all. And al-Esfahani said in his commentary on His saying: "On the Day the Spirit stands" [An-Naba: 38] from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both of them: He is the greatest of the angels in creation and more honorable than them, and closer to the Lord of the worlds - End. So this, as you see, is explicit in the superiority of the Spirit. And al-Suhaili said in the Battle of Badr in his book Al-Rawd: And Gabriel, blessings and peace be upon him, descended with a thousand of the angels, and he was among five hundred on the right flank, and Michael, blessings and peace be upon him, was among five hundred on the left flank, and behind them was a reinforcement of angels who did not fight, and they are the thousands mentioned in Surah Al-Imran. And Israfil, blessings and peace be upon him, was in the middle of the ranks, not fighting like others among the angels, blessings and peace be upon them - [End-]. And this indicates the honor of Israfil, blessings and peace be upon him, because his position is the position of the chief of the people, and his action is his action - and Allah knows best.