Sūrah An-Najm The Star
سورة النجم
A Makkan sūrah of 62 verses. Al-Ṭabarī examines the vision at the Lote Tree, the debate over whether the Prophet saw Allah, the meaning of the sidrat al-muntahā, and the Gharānīq controversy.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī
The vision at the Lote Tree (53:4–18) generates al-Ṭabarī's most careful chain evaluation on a theological question: did the Prophet see Allah? He presents three positions: (1) Ibn ʿAbbās: yes, the Prophet saw Allah with his heart; (2) ʿĀʾishah: no she explicitly denied it, citing 42:51 that no human sees Allah directly; (3) Ibn Masʿūd: he saw Jibrīl. Al-Ṭabarī's tarjīḥ: the Prophet saw Jibrīl in his true form with 600 wings the ʿĀʾishah and Ibn Masʿūd chains are stronger and more consistent with Quranic principles.
The Gharānīq incident is presented by al-Ṭabarī as a story circulating in the tradition he lists the chains he found but then notes the problems: (1) the chains are mostly mursal (disconnected); (2) the content contradicts the Quranic principle that Allah protects His Prophet's recitation from Satanic interpolation (17:73–75); (3) no chain reaches a named Companion witness who was present. His conclusion: the incident cannot be authentically established and the chains are insufficient to affirm it.
- Vision tarjīḥ: Al-Ṭabarī's preference for the Jibrīl-vision view reflects his consistent chain-quality evaluation method.
- Gharānīq rejection: His presentation-then-refutation of the Gharānīq incident is a model of critical method he evaluates and explains the rejection.
- ʿĀʾishah authority: Her chain on the vision is given significant weight she challenged any Companion claiming the Prophet saw Allah directly.
- Sidrat al-muntahā: The Lote Tree as the boundary of created knowledge is treated as a physical reality, consistent with his literalist approach.
- Idol critique: 53:19–23 on Lāt, ʿUzzā, and Manāt generates chains on the Arabian idol cult al-Ṭabarī documents their origins and the specific tribes that worshipped each.