He said: Part of the creed held by Ahl al-Sunnah is that Allah created the Throne and set it apart with supreme loftiness, raising it above everything else He made. Thereafter He rose over it as He willed, just as He has informed about Himself in His words: “The Most Compassionate rose over the Throne” (20:5), and, “Then He rose over the Throne; He knows what enters the earth” (57:4). Exalted is He who, though distant, is near through His knowledge, so He hears even whispered conversation. He also cited the ḥadīth of Abū Razīn al-ʿUqaylī: I asked, “Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created the heavens and the earth?” He replied, “He was in ʿamāʾ (a dense cloud-like mist), with no air beneath it and no air above it; then He created His Throne upon the water.”