And thou in military prowess next,
Gabriel; lead forth to battle these my sons
Invincible.
Milton, Paradise Lost, vi. 44, etc, (1665).
⁂ Gabriel is so called “The Messenger of the Messiah,” because he was sent by the Messiah to execute his orders on the earth. He is referred to in Daniel viii. 16, ix. 21; and in Luke i. 19, 26.
Gabriel (according to the Korân and Sale’s notes):
1. It is from this angel that Mahomet professes to have received the Korân; and he acts the part of the Holy Ghost in causing believers to receive the divine revelation.—Ch. ii.
2. It was the angel Gabriel that won the battle of Bedr. Mahomet’s forces were 319, and the enemy’s a thousand; but Gabriel (1) told Mahomet to throw a handful of dust in the air, and so doing the eyes of the enemy were “confounded;” (2) he caused the army of Mahomet to appear twice as many as the army opposed to it; (3) he brought from heaven 3000 angels, and, mounted on his horse Haïzûm, led them against the foe.—Ch. iii.
3. Gabriel appeared twice to Mahomet in his angelic form: first “in the highest part of the horizon,” and next “by the lote tree,” on the right hand of the throne of God.—Ch. liv.
5. Gabriel’s horse is called Haïzûm, and when the golden calf was made, a little of the dust from under this horse’s feet being thrown into its mouth, the calf began to low, and received life.—Ch. ii.