Shaikh Ali bin Ibraheem Qummi quotes Imam Ja’far-as-Sadiq (a.s.) as saying that once Hazrat Jibra’eel was seated in the presence of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.). Suddenly he looked towards the sky and turned pale because of terror. He asked the Prophet to grant him refuge. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) looked towards the sky where Jibra’eel had seen. He saw an Angel whose wings spread from the east to the west as if covering it. He looked towards the Holy Prophet and said, “O Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)! I have come down with an order from Allah. Choose from among these two any one, either kingdom and Prophethood, or Allah’s slavery and Prophethood.” The Holy Prophet turned towards Jibra’eel and saw that he had regained strength by then and asked for his advice. Jibra’eel told the Prophet to choose Allah’s slavery and Prophethood. The Prophet told the Angel that he opted for Allah’s slavery and Prophethood. After getting the reply, the Angel placed his right leg on the first heaven, then lifted the second one and placed it on the second heaven. Likewise he started climbing the heavens until he reached the seventh heaven. He became smaller, the size equal to a bird.
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) turned towards Jibra’eel and said,
“I have never seen you so much frightened before, what is the reason for it”?
Jibra’eel answered, “ O Prophet! do you know who this Angel was? He was Israfeel. From the day Allah created the heavens and the earth, Israfeel never came down to the earth. When I saw him coming down I assumed that he must have come down to announce the arrival of Qiyamat. Hence the color of my face turned pale due to fright of Qiyamat as you saw. But when I saw that he had come down to give you glad tidings, I was relieved and regained my consciousness.”