a man; the Holy Prophet heard the words of revelation, on occasions, with the force of the ringing of a bell; yet those who were sitting next to him, while fully conscious of the change coming over him, neither saw the angel, nor heard the words of the revelation. Numerous incidents are related in which the Holy Prophet received the revelation while he was sitting among his Companions, yet not one of the Companions ever saw the angel, or even heard his voice. And even when Gabriel came to him at other times, it was always with the spiritual eye that the Holy Prophet saw him. ‘Ā’ishah is very explicit on this point. It is related that on a certain occasion the Holy Prophet said to her: “O ‘Ā’ishah! Here is Gabriel offering salutation to thee.” She said: “And on him be peace and the mercy and blessings of Allāh; thou seest what I do not see” (Bu. 59:6). This shows that even ‘Ā’ishah never saw Gabriel, whether he came with revelation or on other occasions.

There are, however, a few stray incidents, related in certain ḥadīth, from which inference is drawn that others besides the Holy Prophet saw Gabriel, but, from what has been stated above, it is clear that either it was in a vision ( a state of kashf), and therefore with the spiritual senses, that they saw him or that there had been some misunderstanding in the relation of the incident. For instance, it is stated that a stranger came to the Holy Prophet while he was sitting with his Companions, and asked him questions about faith and religion; and when he went away, the Holy Prophet said that it was Gabriel who had come to teach them their religion (Bu. 2:37). But it is doubtful whether the Holy Prophet meant that the man who put the questions was Gabriel, or that the answers which he gave to the stranger were at the prompting of Gabriel. The latter interpretation of his words is more in consonance with the principle laid down that the angel cannot be seen with the physical eye, and with the vast majority of other incidents in which Gabriel came to the Holy Prophet and was seen by him but not by others present at the same time. It is also possible that the few people who were present with the Holy Prophet shared his vision and saw Gabriel with the spiritual eye.

There are two other cases in which there seems to be a misunderstanding. The first is the case of Umm Salama, the Holy Prophet’s wife. Some one was talking with the Holy Prophet, and