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mā kadhaba l-fuʾādu mā raʾā
The heart did not deny what it saw.
— Ali Quli Qarai
53An-NajmالنجمVerse 11 of 62
The Star53. An-Najmالنجم
al-Najm
The Star
MeccanVerse 11 of 62
53An-NajmالنجمVerse 11 of 62
The Star
The heart did not deny what it saw.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Najm - Verses 10-11
10. Therefore, [Allah] revealed unto His servant whatever He revealed.
11. The [Prophet's] heart lied not in what he saw.
"Therefore, Allah revealed unto His servant, Muhammad (S), whatever He revealed.”
According to Tafsir Manhaj al-Sadiqin, some Qur’anic exegetes maintain that God Almighty is the antecedent of all pronouns in Verses five to ten and:
"the Most Powerful"
refers to the Omnipotent Lord, as it is also said elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an:
"He is the All-Provider, the Most Powerful, the Constant."
The Proximity of God Almighty to the Noble Prophet (S) reflects the latter's elevated state in the Presence of the One God, the Creator of the world.
"Came closer"
indicates that God Almighty attracted His friend, Muhammad (S) to Him and such interpretation is substantiated by the tradition of Ascent according to which Muhammad (S) came closer toward God Almighty then came so close in terms of spiritual, rather than perceptible, proximity, that the distance between the two was to the extent of two bows or less. It is narrated by Hasan ibn Fadhl that Muhammad (S) came close to Divine Throne; then, since he had not put his foot on a footing, he grasped the curtains of the Throne and was levitated in the air and God Almighty revealed Divine Revelation unto him.
The blessed Verse in question is saying that Muhammad's (S) love for and proximity to God Almighty reached such an extent that Divine Satisfaction is his satisfaction and what is accepted by him is accepted by God Almighty. It is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as) that replying to Dha‘lab Yamani he said:
"The outer eyes have never seen Him but hearts through the truth of faith have perceived Him." 7
However, it should be borne in mind that inner vision falls into two categories: intellectual vision accrued through reasoning and argumentation and the state of intuition by heart that stands above intellectual perception as a vision beyond perceptible vision. Such state should be termed as the state of intuition rather than that of argumentation. The point is that perception through heart and inward intuition is a state specific to saints possessing different hierarchies, since inward intuition is of many a hierarchy and degree the perception of its truth is hard for those who have not attained to such state.
Based on the preceding blessed Verses and with due attention to the aforesaid interpretation, it may be stated that the Noble Prophet of Islam (S) had the state of intuition and during his blessed lifetime he soared so high that he attained to the state of perfect intuition which once occurred in the beginning of his Prophetic Call and the other time it happened at the time of his Ascent. He proceeded so close toward God Almighty that many a distance and veil were removed and even the closest angel to God Almighty, Gabriel, the Divine trustee, failed to attain to such state of proximity.
Another tradition is also worthy of note in this vein according to which ‘Ayyashi narrates from Imam Baqir (as) that upon being asked regarding the Divinely revealed Verse:
"Then He revealed unto His servant what He revealed,"
the Noble Prophet (S) replied:
"It was revealed unto me that ‘Ali (as) is the master of the believers, the Imam of the God fearing, the most brilliant of the honorable, and the first successor to the Seal of the Prophets (S)."
Then people said:
"We believe in God and His Messenger (S)." 8
The blessed Verse eleven is saying that in imparting what he had seen of his Lord's Signs, the heart of Prophet Muhammad (S) did not lie. The blessed Verse reflects that God Almighty, rather than Gabriel, is the antecedent of the preceding Verses, since according to the consensus of Muslim community and consecutively transmitted traditions, upon receiving Divine Revelation through Gabriel, the Noble Prophet (S) was able to see Gabriel with his outward eyes and hear the angel through his outer ears and the blessed Verse in question attributes vision to the heart of the Noble Prophet (S).
The definite article al- in al-fu’ad may connote covenant (‘ahd), that is what Prophet Muhamamd's (S) saw was not a lie, but it was absolute Truth. The article may indicate genus in that as a general rule, what man perceives through his heart, inward feeling, and conscience is not exposed to error, since outward senses, like vision and hearing, may err, but error may not penetrate intuitive cognition (wijdaniyyat) and the Noble Prophet (S) attained to such spiritual, rather than perceptible, proximity to God Almighty that inspired knowledge indirectly penetrated his heart.
It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (as) that Prophet Muhammad (S) saw God Almighty through his heart rather than outward eyes. Muhammad Hanifa narrates from his noble father (as) that the Noble Prophet (S) perceived his Lord through certitude by sight (‘ayn al-yaqin) using crystal clear Signs and attained to such cognition through what he saw, though he was formerly aware of the same. It is narrated from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri in Manhaj al-Sadiqin that upon being asked about the meaning of the blessed Verse in question, the Noble Prophet (S) said:
"I saw the Light."
It is narrated from the Imam (as) in Tafsir Kanz al-Daqa’iq that the Imam was asked:
"Did the Prophet (S) see his Lord in his Ascent?"
The Imam (as) said:
"Yes, he saw God through his heart."
Then he recited the blessed Verse:
"The [Prophet's] heart lied not in what he saw."
It is narrated from Imam Ridha (as), as quoted by Tafsir Nur under the blessed Verse in question, that he said:
"The Verses
'Indeed he did see of the Greatest Signs of his Lord" 9
and
"The [Prophet's] heart lied not in what he saw"
reflect that the Noble Prophet (S) saw Divine Signs rather than Divine Essence."
Footnotes