When the Sidrah-tree was covered with what covered it,
His eye turned not aside, nor did it wander:
For he saw the greatest of the signs of his Lord.”
The Sidrah-tree is the Zizyphus jujuba of Linnæus, the prickly plum, which is called Ber in India. A decoction of its leaves is used in India to wash the dead, on account of the sacredness of the tree.
ṢIFAH (صفة), pl. Ṣifāt. An attribute. Used for the attributes of God. The Qurʾān is also said to be a Ṣifah of the Almighty.
Ismu ʾṣ-Ṣifah, the name of an attribute, is a term applied to any of the ninety-nine names or attributes of God. [[GOD].]
ṢIFĀTĪYAH (صفاتية). From Ṣifāt, “attributes.” A school of thought rather than a sect of Islām, although it is given by Mr. Sale as one of the Muḥammadan sects. The orthodox Sunnī claims to be a Ṣifātī, or Attributist (as opposed to the Muʿtazilahs, who reject the idea of God’s attributes being eternal), and maintains that the attributes of God are eternally inherent in His essence without separation or change; every attribute being conjoined with Him as life with knowledge, or knowledge with power. With regard to the verses of the Qurʾān which are held to be Mutashābih, and assign some resemblance between God and His creatures, the Ṣifātīyahs say the expressions “hands,” “face,” “sitting,” &c., must simply be accepted as they stand, without any attempt at explanation. [[MUʿTAZILAH], [WAHHABI].]
AṢ-ṢIḤĀḤU ʾS-SITTAH (الصحاح الستة), also called al-Kutubu ʾs-Sittah (الكتب الستة). “The six correct (books).” The title given to the six most trustworthy collections of traditions received by Sunnī Muslims, namely, those by:—
(1) Abū ʿAbdi ʾllāh Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Buk͟hārī, born A.H. 194; died A.H. 256.
(2) Abū ʾl-Ḥusain Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Qushairī, born A.H. 204, died A.H. 261.