'Ikrimah: Do you want me to inform you that he [indeed] saw Him? I said: Yes. He said: He saw Him, then he saw Him. He [the narrator] said:

I then asked al-Hasan about it, and he said: He saw His majesty, His greatness, and His cloak.(1)

18698 - My father narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Mujahid narrated to us, Abu 'Amir al-'Aqadi narrated to us, Abu Khuldah informed us, from Abu al-'Aliyah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was asked: Did you see your Lord? He said: "I saw a river, and behind the river I saw a veil, and behind the veil I saw a light. I did not see anything other than that."(2)

18699 - My father narrated to us, 'Amr ibn 'Awn al-Wasiti narrated to us, Hushaym informed us, from Mansur, from al-Hakam, from Ibrahim, from his father, from Abu Dharr, who said: He saw Him with his heart, and did not see Him with his eye.(3)

His saying, the Almighty: "Then he approached and descended."

18700 - From 'Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: The beginning of the affair of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was that he saw Gabriel in his dream at Ajyad. Then he went out for some need of his, and Gabriel cried out to him: "O Muhammad! O Muhammad!" He looked to his right and to his left, and he did not see anything, [repeating this] three times. Then he raised his gaze, and there he was, placing one of his feet upon the other at the horizon of the sky. He said: "O Muhammad, [it is] Gabriel, Gabriel," calming him down. The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) fled until he entered among the people, then he looked but did not see anything. Then he left the people and looked, and he saw him. That is the saying of Allah: "By the star when it descends. Your companion has not strayed, nor has he erred," up to His saying: "Then he approached and descended," meaning Gabriel to Muhammad, "So he was a distance of two bows length or nearer." He says: The qab (distance) is half a finger's length. "So He revealed to His servant what He revealed," Gabriel to the servant of his Lord.(4)

His saying, the Almighty: "And it is He who enriches and contents."

18701 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih narrated to us, Mu'awiyah narrated to us, from 'Ali, from Ibn 'Abbas regarding His saying: "And it is He who enriches and contents," he said: He gave and He satisfied.(5)