Meccan, and it is forty-five verses [revealed after Al-Furqan] 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'. The Creator of the heavens is its initiator and inventor. And from Mujahid from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: I did not know what the Creator of the heavens and the earth was, until two Bedouins disputed to me about a well. One of them said: I am its creator [[mentioned at the beginning of Al-An'am]], meaning I initiated it. And it was recited: the One who created the heavens and the earth and made the angels. And it was recited: making the angels, in the nominative as praise. Messengers with wings, and those who have wings: it is a collective noun for 'having', just as 'those' is a collective noun for 'having'. And their counterpart in the capable: the labor and the pregnancy, dual and plural and quadruple, descriptions for wings. And it did not decline due to the repetition of the equality in it. That is because it was adjusted from the words of numbers from forms to other forms, just as Umar was adjusted from Amir. And Hudham from Hadham, and from repetition to non-repetition. As for the descriptive, the situation does not differ between the adjusted and that which is adjusted from it. Do you not see that you say: I passed by four women, and by three men, so it does not deviate from it. And the meaning: that the angels [[the phrase 'that the angels are created' may mean: varied in creation ... etc. (A)]] are created with two wings each, meaning each one of them has two wings, and created with three wings each, and created with four wings each. He increases in creation what He wills, meaning He increases in the creation of wings, and in other things what His will and wisdom necessitate. The original is two wings, as they are like two hands, then the third and fourth are an addition to the original, and that is stronger for flying and more helpful for it. If you say: the norm of the pairs of wings should be that each side has half, what is the form of the three? I say: perhaps the third is in the middle of the back between the two wings, extending them with strength. Or perhaps it is for non-flying, as I have come across in some books that a type of angels has six wings, so two wings wrap around their bodies, and two wings they fly with in the matters of Allah, and two wings are spread over their faces out of modesty before Allah. And about the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, 'that he saw Gabriel, peace be upon him, on the night of the Ascension with six hundred wings [[agreed upon from the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud 'that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, saw Gabriel in his form with six hundred wings' and the wording of Ibn Hibban 'I saw Gabriel at the Sidrat al-Muntaha with six hundred wings spreading in feathers of pearls and rubies']] and it was narrated that he asked Gabriel, peace be upon him, to show himself to him in his form, he said: You will not be able to bear that. He said: 'I love for you to do it [[narrated by Ibn al-Mubarak in Al-Zuhd. And Al-Thalabi from his path informed us that Al-Layth from Aqil from Al-Zuhri said this. And added 'and the was'a is a small bird until it carries its throne only by its size' the was'a with an open sad followed by another sad]]'. So the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, went out on a moonlit night, and Gabriel came to him in his form and the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, fainted, then he regained consciousness and Gabriel, peace be upon him, was supporting him and one of his hands was on his chest and the other between his shoulders. He said: Glory be to Allah! I did not think that anything from creation was like this. Gabriel said: What if you saw Israfil: he has twelve wings: one wing in the east, and one wing in the west. And the Throne is on his shoulder, and he shrinks at times out of the greatness of Allah until he becomes like the was'a [[the phrase 'like the was'a which is the small bird' in Al-Sihah 'the was'a: a bird smaller than a sparrow. (A)]] which is the small bird. And it was narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding His saying: He increases in creation what He wills: 'It is the beautiful face, and the beautiful voice, and the beautiful hair.' And it was said 'the beautiful handwriting.' And from Qatadah: the beauty in the eyes, and the verse is general encompassing every increase in creation: from height of stature, and balance of form, and completeness in limbs, and strength in grip, and soundness in intellect [[the phrase 'and soundness' means: perfection. This was clarified in Al-Sihah. (A)]], and vigor in opinion, and boldness in heart, and generosity in soul, and eloquence.

In eloquence and skill in speaking, and good deliberation in handling matters, and similar things that cannot be fully described.