Tafsir of Ash-Shu`ara' 26:194

It may be said: Since he (peace and blessings be upon him) possessed two aspects—a celestial aspect through which he overflows, and a human aspect through which he receives—the descent was directed upon his soul, for it is that which is characterized by the celestial attributes through which it receives from the Trustworthy Spirit. In indication of this, it was said "on your heart" rather than the more concise "upon you."

It has been said: This is because the Qur’an did not descend in written folios like other scriptures. As for the specific organ (the physical heart), which is the famous usage, its specification for the descent upon it was said to be to indicate the perfection of his (peace and blessings be upon him) intellect and understanding of what was sent down, in that no intermediary was considered in its arrival at the heart—which is the seat of the intellect, as is necessitated by the apparent meaning of many verses and traditions, and as is testified to by reason, which is not hidden from one who has a heart or listens while he is a witness. The Imam has elaborated on defending this in his exegesis, refuting those who held that the brain is the seat of the intellect.

It is also said: It is to indicate the righteousness and sanctity of his heart (peace and blessings be upon him), for it was a place of descent for the Speech of the Most High, so that the state of all his (peace and blessings be upon him) other parts might be known through it; for the heart is the leader of all limbs and their king, and when it is righteous, the subjects are righteous. In the tradition: "Verily, there is in the body a lump of flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt; verily, it is the heart."

It may be said: It is possible that the specification exists because Allah the Most High gave the heart of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) a special hearing through which he hears what is sent down to him of the Qur’an, distinguishing his affair from all else he hears and retains, along the lines of what has been said—which al-Nawawi mentioned in his commentary on Sahih Muslim regarding the verse: "The heart did not lie about what it saw"—that Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, gave his heart (peace and blessings be upon him) a vision by which he saw Him, the Glorified, on the night of the Ascension.

All of this is according to the view that Gabriel (peace be upon him) descended with the Qur’anic wordings preserved—after the Qur’an had descended as a whole from the Preserved Tablet to the House of Might, or those which he retains from the Tablet when commanded to descend, or those with which he is inspired by Him, the Most High, as stated by some of the noble predecessors—then he casts them to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as they are, without any change at all. This is likewise according to the view that Gabriel (peace be upon him) cast the Qur’anic meanings to him and that he (the Prophet) expressed them in these Arabic wordings, then he descended with them as such and cast them to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).

As for the view that he (peace be upon him) only descended with the meanings to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that he (the Prophet) knew those meanings and expressed them in the language of the Arabs, it is said that "heart" means the specific organ and nothing else, and its specification is because the meanings are perceived by the power deposited within it. It is also said that it is permissible for it to mean the soul, and his (peace and blessings be upon him) soul, due to its ultimate sanctity and perfection, perceives the meanings without the intermediary of an instrument. Some people hold this view and have made the verse a proof for it, but it is a weak view. Similarly, the view that Gabriel (peace be upon him) cast the meanings to him, so he expressed them in words, and thus descended with what he had expressed, is also weak.

The preponderant view is that the wordings are from Him, the Exalted, just as the meanings are; Gabriel (peace be upon him) has no input in them at all. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would hear and retain them through divine, holy powers—not the hearing of humans—and his human powers would be affected by that. For this reason, what is seen appears upon his noble body (peace and blessings be upon him), and it is called the "burden of revelation," until it is thought at times that he fainted or that he dozed off.

It is upon this that what Muslim narrated from Anas is explained: "While the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was among us, he dozed off, then raised his head, smiling. We said: 'What makes you laugh, O Messenger of Allah?' He said: 'A surah has just been revealed to me,' and he read: 'In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], the Al-Kawthar. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice. Indeed, your enemy is the one cut off.'"

He who says that the entire Qur’an descended while he was awake does not need to interpret this report as him (peace and blessings be upon him) having merely had the surah of Al-Kawthar occur to him in that nap—which had already been revealed while he was awake—or that Al-Kawthar was presented to him, so he recited it to them. Furthermore, according to the statement that some of the Qur’an descended upon him while he was sleeping—deducing this from this report—what we have said regarding his hearing of what is revealed to him and his retaining it through divine, holy powers remains; his (peace and blessings be upon him) sleep does not prevent that. How could it, when it is authentically narrated from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: "My eyes sleep, but my heart does not sleep."