By the star when it descends,
Your companion [i.e., Muḥammad] has not strayed, nor has he erred,
Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination.
It is not but a revelation revealed,
Taught to him by one intense in strength [i.e., Gabriel] -
One of soundness. And he rose to [his] true form
While he was in the higher [part of the] horizon.
Then he approached and descended
And was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.
And he revealed to His Servant what he revealed [i.e., conveyed].
The heart did not lie [about] what it saw.
So will you dispute with him over what he saw?
And he certainly saw him in another descent
At the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary -
Near it is the Garden of Refuge [i.e., Paradise] -
When there covered the Lote Tree that which covered [it].
The sight [of the Prophet (ﷺ)] did not swerve, nor did it transgress [its limit].
He certainly saw of the greatest signs of his Lord.
So have you considered al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā?
And Manāt, the third - the other one?
Is the male for you and for Him the female?
That, then, is an unjust division.
They are not but [mere] names you have named them - you and your forefathers - for which Allāh has sent down no authority. They follow not except assumption and what [their] souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance.
Or is there for man whatever he wishes?
Rather, to Allāh belongs the Hereafter and the first [life].