The Prophetic Biography – Sidrat al-Muntahā When the Prophet ﷺ advanced, he reached Sidrat al-Muntahā (the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary), and he wished to contemplate it. But it was enveloped by the command of Allah and by overwhelming lights, to the extent that no one could describe it. What does it mean that something is indescribable? We often hear of things that cannot be described—but what does that truly mean? The human being, as we know, consists of a soul and a body. The soul is from the command of my Lord; we know little about it. Yet what we do know is that it is the repository of secrets. The body, on the other hand, is the physical form that contains the heart, the mind, and the senses. It possesses limited capacities. Sight is limited. Hearing is limited. The intellect is limited—each has a boundary it cannot surpass. You may see a person at a certain distance, but beyond that, your sight fails. The same applies to hearing and all other senses. Even the intellect has a finite capacity in understanding and comprehending. But the soul within this body can perceive realities—if it is liberated. By “liberated,” we mean a soul belonging to a believer who frequently remembers Allah. The closer a person draws to their Lord, the more their soul is freed and illuminated. What the soul perceives cannot be received by the bodily faculties—except for one organ: The heart. And that is only under one condition: that the heart is not sealed or locked. Allah says: “Do they not reflect upon the Qur’an, or are there locks upon their hearts?” When the heart receives from the soul what it has witnessed, it conveys that perception to the mind. At that point, the mind stands unable to translate what the heart has received from the soul—because the intellect is limited, while the soul surpasses it in capacity. Consider when a person sees a vision—perhaps of Paradise. They say: “How beautiful it was! I cannot describe it.” Its description remains an inner feeling within the soul and the heart, beyond expression—because the heart has grasped it, but the mind cannot fully articulate it. If you were to see Paradise in a dream, reflecting upon the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: “The space of a whip (or the space of a footstep) in Paradise is better than the life and all that it contains,” you might not be able to describe what you saw—but you could at least affirm this meaning: even the smallest portion of it surpasses the entire world. When you look at a beautiful scene in this world, only your sight delights in it. But in Paradise, when you look, the pleasure is not confined to the eyes—every feeling within you delights. It is as if you taste the scene, hear tranquility with sweetness, and embrace what you love with longing and joy. It is exceedingly difficult to describe—yet all of this comes from a single glance. Allah says: “The heart did not deny what it saw. Will you then dispute with him over what he saw?” Thus, the fu’ād (the inner heart) truly sees. And Allah says: “Have they not traveled through the land so that they may have hearts by which to understand and ears by which to hear? Indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but the hearts within the chests.” So the heart understands and perceives. The Prophet ﷺ said to his companions: “I drew near to Sidrat al-Muntahā.” They asked: “What is it like, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “As for its leaves…” (He was describing a tree there—yet he only described its leaves, not the entire tree.) He said: “Its leaves were like the ears of elephants.” Then he said: “It was covered by what covered it from the command of my Lord—then it became a light beyond description.” It was named Sidrat al-Muntahā because the souls of the believers, when taken at death, ascend to the heavens. The gates of heaven are opened for them until they reach it. There, they prostrate beneath the Throne, then return to the grave of their owners. As for the souls of the disbelievers, they are confined in darkness. Allah says: “Indeed, those who deny Our signs and are arrogant toward them—the gates of heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a needle.”