up to the fourth heaven, after which he had to proceed alone. And how did he go, how did he travel on this journey which seems to have had a material dimension defined by light, as well as a non-material one functioning in the soul? He is said to have traveled on a mysterious creature called the buraq which Gabriel made with seven distinguishing characteristics: the jewelled wings of a peacock, like the five colored bird whose form, the five elements, was placed among the four main branches of the tree called religion at the time of creation; the back like a donkey which carried the burdens of the world; the tail of a horse which flew like the mind, faster than the wind; legs like an elephant, trampling the world with its karma, its arrogance; the strong, bursting chest of a tiger; the heart of a rapacious tiger; and finally the face which looked like the face of a beautiful woman, but was actually the face of maya, of illusion.

After going beyond the fourth heaven, Muhammad continued on by himself, received certain instructions from God on prayer, on his relations with his followers, talking to Him behind a curtain or veil, then he visited the baby in an emerald cradle who was the qutb, his grandson who would be born fifty-one generations later. After more conversation with his

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