443 — Al-Firyābī informed us, saying: Minjāb ibn al-Hārith narrated to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from Abū Zabyān, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:

“Indeed, the first thing Allah Most High created was the Pen. He said to it, ‘Write.’ It said, ‘My Lord, what shall I write?’ He said, ‘Write the decree.’ Thereupon, it wrote all that would come to pass until the Hour comes. His Throne was upon the water. Then He raised the vapor of the water, and from it the heavens were cleft open. Then He created Nūn (the fish), and the earth was spread out upon Nūn’s back. Nūn moved, and the earth swayed, so it was made firm by the mountains. Indeed, the mountains boast over the earth.”