إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَ‌سُولٍ كَرِ‌يمٍ ذِي قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِي الْعَرْ‌شِ مَكِينٍ (it [ the Qur'an ] is surely the word of a noble messenger [ Jibra'il ], the one possessing power and a high status with the Lord of the Throne...81:19-20). This is the subject of oath that affirms that Qur'an is the word brought by a noble messenger. Then three qualities are attributed to this noble messenger. The first quality is that he possesses power. The second quality is that he has high status and lofty rank with Allah, and he is obeyed in the upper realm. The third quality is that he is trusted, and there is no possibility of his committing any breach of trust or tampering with the message he conveys. The word 'noble messenger' obviously refers to the angel Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) because the word 'messenger' is used for angels as it is used for prophets, and all the three qualities attributed to the 'messenger' in the next verses are truly present in Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) . His being powerful is mentioned in Surah An-Najm in the following words;

عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَىٰ

It is taught to him by one (angel) of strong faculties.[ 53:5)

It is established through the hadith of Mi` raj that he is obeyed by other angels, because when he accompanied the Holy Prophet ﷺ to the sky and ordered the angels appointed on its doors to open them he was obeyed by them. That he is trust-worthy is too obvious to need a proof.

Some commentators, however, take the phrase 'honourable messenger' to refer to the Holy Prophet Muhammad "and accordingly have made an attempt to take all the three qualities referring to the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

In the next verses, the Holy Qur'an has mentioned the high status of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، and has refuted the silly objections raised against him by the infidels.

(And your companion [ Muhammad ﷺ ] madman....81:22) This is rebuttal to the foolish criticism of the enemies who said that Muhammad ﷺ is [ God forbid!] insane.

وَلَقَدْ رَ‌آهُ بِالْأُفُقِ الْمُبِينِ (And he did see him [ Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) ] on the clear horizon. _81:23) In other words, Muhammad saw Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) on a clear horizon. A similar statement occurs in Surah An-Najm as follows:

The purpose of mentioning this is to show that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was well-acquainted with Jibra'il (علیہ السلام) the angel of revelation. He had seen him in his original shape. Therefore, there can be no room for doubt in the veracity of revelation he brings to him.

Al-hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah At-Takwir

Ends here