The Holy Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam once asked Hadrat Jibrael Alaihis Salam,
“O Jibrael! How old are you?”
Jibrael al-Ameen Alaihis Salam replied, “O Rasoolullah SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam, I don’t know how old I am, but I do know that in the Fourth Covering (حجاب), I saw a star shine once every 70,000 years, and I saw this 72,000 times.”
The Holy Prophet SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam then said,
وعزة ربي انا ذلك الكوكب
“By the honour of Allah SubHanuhu wa Ta’ala! I was that star.”[Tafseer Rooh al-Bayaan, Vol. 1, Page 974]
Status of this narration: False.
Shaykh ‘Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn as-Siddeeq al-Ghamaari (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
In some books of al-Mawlid an-Nabawi (books that speak of the Prophet’s Birth) it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah that he said: The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) asked Jibreel (peace be upon him): “O Jibreel, how old are you?”… And he quoted the hadith, then he said:
This is an abhorrent lie; may Allah punish those who fabricated it and made it up.
Murshid al-Haa’ir (p. 5)