سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى
GLORY BE TO HIM WHO TOOK HIS SERVANT BY NIGHT FROM THE HOLY MOSQUE TO THE FARTHEST MOSQUE (17:1)
“From the Holy Mosque to the Farthest Mosque. He was taken from the Holy Mosque to the Farthest Mosque and from the Farthest Mosque to the Lote Tree of the Final End and the highest way station so that he would see the states and terrors of the Resurrection face-to-face”
Firstly, He praised Himself, then He disclosed the nobility of Muṣṭafā and uncovered his eminence over the creatures. First, He testified to His own faultlessness and mentioned His own purity. He Himself praised Himself and showed the creatures His perfect power. He turned over the Messenger’s miʿrāj to His own act, not the Messenger’s act so that the faithful will not fall into uncertainty and there would be an argument against the deniers. Thus, the faithful will know that the marvels of power have no limit and that this state is not strange given the perfect power of the Most Powerful.
Another meaning is to display the nobility of Muṣṭafā and his eminence over the creatures of the world. Then the world’s folk will know that his station is that of those snatched away on the carpet of companionship, not that of the travelers in the way stations of service. He who is snatched away is being pulled by the Real, but the traveler is traveling by himself.
When someone is being pulled by the Real, he is in the way station of whispered secrets and joy and is fitting for generous bestowal and exaltation. But when someone is traveling, he keeps on wanting to gain access to the threshold of service and seek a rank to appear for himself. The former is the station of Muhammad, the Real’s beloved, and the latter is the station of Moses, the Real’s speaking companion.
