Surah An-Najm, Ayah 12

The Trustworthy Angel brought Allah's Revelation to the Trustworthy Messenger

Allah the Exalted states that the Message His servant and Messenger Muhammad ﷺ brought to people was taught to him by,

شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى

(mighty in power), he is Jibril, peace be upon him,

إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى الْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍ مُّطَـعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ

(Verily, this is the Word a most honorable messenger, owner of power, with (Allah) the Lord of the Throne, obeyed (by the angels) and trustworthy.)(81:19-21) Allah said here,

ذُو مِرَّةٍ

(Dhu Mirrah), meaning, he is mighty in power, according to Mujahid, Al-Hasan and Ibn Zayd. In an authentic Hadith from `Abdullah bin `Umar and Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet said,

مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَ‌أَىٰ (The heart did not err in what he saw....53:11) Fu'ad means heart, and the verse means whatever the eyes saw, the heart did not err in its grasping. This erring in the verse is described as kidhb [ lying ]. In other words, the heart did not lie in connection with the perceived objects. It did not err or slip up. In the phrase mara'a 'what he saw', the Qur'an does not specify what it saw. The blessed Companions ؓ and their followers, and the leading authorities on Tafsir hold two divergent views as was discussed in detail earlier: [ 1] The phrase means it [ the Holy Prophet's ﷺ heart ] saw Allah (and this is the view of Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ; and [ 2] others (like Sayyidah ` A'ishah, Ibn Masud, Abu Hurairah and Abu Dharr Ghifari ؓ express the view that the Holy Prophet ﷺ saw Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) in his original shape. The Arabic verb ra'a originally means to see with physical eyes, and after having seen with physical eyes the heart grasps and comprehends. Thus the Holy Prophet ﷺ first saw Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) with his physical eyes, and then grasped and comprehended him with his heart. Therefore, there is no need to take the word ru'yah in the figurative or metaphorical sense of ru'yah qalbiyah [ to see with the heart ] as did Al-Qurtubi.

The setting of the stars is a symbol which hints at the stable and flawless system governing the revolution of stars. This is an indication that the spiritual system established with the help of revelation and prophethood should also be flawless.