His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Do you dispute with him about what he sees?" "And indeed, he saw him another time." "At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary." "Near it is the Garden of Abode." "When the Lote Tree was covered by what it was covered." "The sight did not swerve, nor did it exceed." "Certainly, he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord."

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Do you dispute with him?" is an address to the Quraysh. It is from the dispute, and the meaning is: Do you argue with him about something he saw and beheld? This is the reading of the majority and the people of Medina. Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Do you find him?" with the opening of the 'ta' without an 'alif' after the 'meem.' This means: Do you find him? This is because when the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, informed Quraysh about his matter in the Isra, they denied and mocked until he described to them the Al-Aqsa Mosque and commanded their caravan and other matters that are detailed in the story of the Isra. It was narrated by Sa'id from Al-Nakha'i: "Do you find him?" with the 'ta' being pronounced with a 'dhamma.' Abu Hatim said: This is an error from Sa'id. And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "sees" is in the future tense, while the vision has already passed. The expression encompasses all that has passed and refers to what may occur afterward, and there is consideration in this.

People have differed regarding the pronoun in His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And indeed, he saw him" according to what we have presented. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and Ka'b Al-Ahbar said: It refers back to Allah, exalted and majestic is He. Ibn Mas'ud, Aisha, Mujahid, and Al-Rabi' said: It refers back to Gabriel, and "another time" means: once. Its accusative case is in the position of a verbal noun. And "the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary" is the tree of lote. Ka'b said: It is in the seventh heaven. Malik ibn Sa'sa'a narrated this from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is in the sixth heaven. It was said that it is called "the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary" because to it ends the knowledge of every scholar, and no one knows what is beyond it except Allah, blessed and exalted is He. It was said: It is named so because to it ends those who die upon the Sunnah of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and they are the true believers from every generation. It was also said: It is named so because what descends from the command of Allah, exalted and majestic is He, is received there, and the angels of the high do not go beyond it. And what ascends from the earth is received there, and the angels of the low do not go beyond it. It was narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that the nations of the nations take shade under its shade. And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary was raised for me, and its lote is like the jugs of Hajar, and its leaves are like the ears of elephants."

And His saying, the Most High: ﴿Near it is the Garden of Abode﴾, the majority said: The Most High intended to magnify the place of the Sidrah and to honor it by stating that the Garden of Abode is near it. Al-Hasan said: It is the Garden that the believing scholar has been promised. And Qatadah and Ibn Abbas said differently: It is a Garden to which the souls of the martyrs and the believers take refuge, and it is not the Garden that the believers have been promised, the Garden of Bliss. This requires a chain of narration, and I do not see it as authentic from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and Anas ibn Malik - differently - and Ibn al-Zubair, Abu al-Darda, Zirr ibn Hubaysh, Qatadah, and Muhammad ibn Kab read: "Near it is the Garden of Abode" with the 'h' in "Garden," which refers to Muhammad ﷺ. The meaning is: Allah, the Most High, has sheltered and embraced him with His care and beautiful creation. It is said: "The night has sheltered him." Aisha and some companions with her, may Allah be pleased with them, rejected this reading and said: May Allah shelter whoever reads it. The majority read: "Garden" like the other verse: ﴿For them are Gardens of Abode as a hospitality﴾ [As-Sajda: 19]. Al-Thalabi narrated that the meaning of "Garden of Abode" is that it shelters him at night. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿When the Sidrah was covered by what it was covered﴾, the operative in "When" is "He saw it." The meaning is: He saw it in this state, and "what it was covered by" means: from the power of Allah, the Most High, and the types of attributes that He creates for it. This is ambiguous in terms of grandeur and magnificence. Mujahid said: That is the transformation of its branches into pearls and rubies and similar things. Ibn Mas'ud, Masruq, Mujahid, and Ibrahim said: That is grass of gold that was covering it. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: "I saw it, then a covering of gold was placed between it." And Al-Rabi and Abu Huraira said: Angels were covering it as birds cover trees. And it was said that other than this is an overreach in the verse because Allah, the Most High, has made that ambiguous while they want to explain it. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Then it was covered by colors that I do not know what they are."

(p-115) His saying, the Most High: ﴿The sight did not swerve﴾, Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Its meaning is: It did not turn this way or that way. And His saying, the Most High: "And it did not exceed" means: nor did it go beyond what was seen, but rather it occurred upon it correctly. This is a confirmation of the matter and a negation of any doubts about it.

His saying, the Most High: ﴿Certainly, he saw from the signs of his Lord the greatest﴾. A group from the people of interpretation said: He saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord, and the meaning is: from the signs of his Lord that can be seen by humans. So "the greatest" - on this - is the object of "saw." Others said: The meaning is: He saw some of the greatest signs of his Lord, so "the greatest" - on this - is a description of "signs," and the plural of what does not have intellect in the feminine is never described in the same way as the singular. And Ibn Mas'ud said: He saw Gabriel, peace be upon him, in the form in which he is in the heavens.