Zurarah ibn Awfa (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to Gabriel: “Have you seen 1 your Lord?” Gabriel trembled and said: “O Muhammad! There are seventy veils of light between me and Him. If I approached any of them, I would be burned.”
(1) His statement: “Have you seen your Lord?” indicates the reality of seeing Allah, the Exalted, in the abode of eternity. If it were impossible, the Prophet (ﷺ) would not have asked. However, there is disagreement about whether angels see Allah, the Exalted. Since seeing generally implies closeness, Gabriel trembled out of awe. His statement: “There are seventy veils of light between me and Him” is explained by a commentator as an expression of Allah’s perfection and Gabriel’s deficiency, with the veil being from Gabriel’s side. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)
Note 1
قوله
(۱) قوله : هل رأيت ربك فيه دليل على حقية رؤية الله تعالى في دار البقاء؛ فإنه لو كانت مستحيلة ما سأل النبي ، لكن اختلف في أن الملائكة يرون الله تعالى أم لا ، ثم لما كان الرؤية غالبا تنبئ عن القربة فارتعد جبريل من الهيبة وقوله: إن بيني وبينه سبعين حجابا من نور قال شارح وهو عبارة عن كمال الله تعالى ونقصان جبريل والحجاب من طرف جبريل. كذا في «المرقاة».
Commentary and footnotes (2)
Note 1
(1) His statement: “Have you seen your Lord?” indicates the reality of seeing Allah, the Exalted, in the abode of eternity. If it were impossible, the Prophet (ﷺ) would not have asked. However, there is disagreement about whether angels see Allah, the Exalted. Since seeing generally implies closeness, Gabriel trembled out of awe. His statement: “There are seventy veils of light between me and Him” is explained by a commentator as an expression of Allah’s perfection and Gabriel’s deficiency, with the veil being from Gabriel’s side. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)
Note 1
(۱) قوله : هل رأيت ربك فيه دليل على حقية رؤية الله تعالى في دار البقاء؛ فإنه لو كانت مستحيلة ما سأل النبي ، لكن اختلف في أن الملائكة يرون الله تعالى أم لا ، ثم لما كان الرؤية غالبا تنبئ عن القربة فارتعد جبريل من الهيبة وقوله: إن بيني وبينه سبعين حجابا من نور قال شارح وهو عبارة عن كمال الله تعالى ونقصان جبريل والحجاب من طرف جبريل. كذا في «المرقاة».