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Chapter 17

The Night Journeyal-Isrāʾ ( الإسراء )

111 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that mentions the miracle of The Night Journey, wherein God transported His servant Muḥammad in a single night from the Sacred Mosque of Mecca to al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, to show him some of His most wondrous signs. God caused Muhammad, in the space of a single night, to journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and from there to heaven and back again. It takes its name from this subject, as relating to the celestial journey (miʿrāj) of the Prophet, mentioned in verse 1 and again in verse 60. The surah is framed by references to the Children of Israel at the beginning, and to Pharaoh at the end. The bulk of the surah deals with the Quran as guidance and warning, Muḥammad, and the nature of prophecy, especially the fact that he is a human being and incapable himself of producing miracles. It also warns of Iblis’s promise to tempt mankind and of the fate of the disbelievers, and it gives a series of commandments (verse 22 ff.).«

The surah is also known as Glory, The Children of Israel

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

N. J. Dawood: In The Name Of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful

1
سُبحانَ الَّذي أَسرىٰ بِعَبدِهِ لَيلًا مِنَ المَسجِدِ الحَرامِ إِلَى المَسجِدِ الأَقصَى الَّذي بارَكنا حَولَهُ لِنُرِيَهُ مِن آياتِنا ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّميعُ البَصيرُ

N. J. Dawood

Glory be to Him who made His servant go by night from the Sacred Temple1 to the farther Temple2 whose surroundings We have blessed, that We might show him some of Our signs. He alone hears all and observes all.
  • Of Mecca.
  • Of Jerusalem (and thence to the Throne of God, accompanied by the Angel Gabriel). Some Muslim commentators give a literal interpretation to this passage, others regard it as a vision.