Surah An-Najm (53) — Ayah 11

(Ayah 11) ➊ {مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَاٰى : ’’ كَذَبَ ‘‘} has been recited in two ways among the seven Qira’at. Thus, Ibn ‘Amir has recited it as {’’كَذَّبَ‘‘} with a shaddah on the “dhal,” meaning “denied.” In this case, the meaning will be that whatever the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw with his eyes, his heart did not deny it, rather it affirmed it. The other reciters have recited it as {’’ كَذَبَ ‘‘} without the shaddah on the “dhal,” meaning “lied.” That is, when the heart saw Jibril (peace be upon him), it did not lie, rather it spoke the truth that he saw Jibril, just as the eyes saw and did not lie. In seeing Jibril (peace be upon him), both the eyes and the heart were involved. Shaykh ‘Abdur Rahman al-Sa‘di writes in “Tayseer al-Rahman”: {’’أَيْ اِتَّفَقَ فُؤَادُ الرَّسُوْلِ صَلَّي اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَ رُؤْيَتُهُ عَلَي الْوَحْيِ الَّذِيْ أَوْحَاهُ اللّٰهُ إِلَيْهِ وَ تَوَاطَأَ عَلَيْهِ سَمْعُهُ وَ قَلْبُهُ وَ بَصَرُهُ‘‘} “That is, the heart of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and his vision agreed upon the revelation which Allah sent to him, and his ears, eyes, and heart were all in agreement upon it.” Sayyid Amir ‘Ali Malihabadi writes at the end of the explanation of this sentence in “Mawahib al-Rahman”: “In summary, in what the Prophet (peace be upon him) saw, both the heart and the eyes are in agreement and truthful.” Some commentators have taken {’’ كَذَبَ ‘‘} (without shaddah) to mean “denied,” whereas this is the meaning of {’’كَذَّبَ‘‘} (with shaddah on the “dhal”), not of {’’ كَذَبَ ‘‘} (without shaddah).
➋ What the eye saw was that he saw Jibril (peace be upon him) in his original form, saw him in the daylight, not in darkness, saw him while awake, not in sleep or semi-sleep or drowsiness, and the heart also agreed with the eyes in seeing, and affirmed that indeed he (peace be upon him) had seen that very angel Jibril who brings revelation from Allah, and there remained no doubt or uncertainty in the matter.