that He was truly established over His Throne; these righteous predecessors simply did not know how He was established over it.”

[The words of Abū Bakr al-Naqqāsh]

As for the words of the predecessors themselves, they are too numerous to enumerate.

Abū Bakr al-Naqqāsh, the author of the Quran commentary and the treatise, said:

“Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Sarrāj narrated to us, saying: I heard Qutaybah ibn Saʿīd say: ‘This is the position of the imams of Islam, the Sunnah and the community: we know our Lord to be in the seventh heaven, over His Throne, as He said:

“The Most Merciful is established over the Throne.”

[Tā Hā: 5].’”

[The words of Abū Bakr al-Khallāl in Kitāb al-Sunnah]

Abū Bakr al-Khallāl related in Kitāb al-Sunnah (The Book of the Sunnah):

“Abū Bakr al-Marwudhī informed us; Muhammad ibn al-Sabbāh al-Naysābūrī narrated to us; Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd, Abū Dāwūd al-Khaffāf, narrated to us, saying: Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Rāhawayh said: ‘Allah Most High said:

“The Most Merciful is established over the Throne.”

[Tā Hā: 5].

The scholars unanimously agree that He is above the Throne and knows everything in the lowest depths of the seventh earth and in the depths of the seas.’”

Another version reads:

“And on the hilltops, in the depths of the valleys, and in every place, just as He knows what is in the seven heavens and beneath the Throne. His knowledge encompasses everything. No leaf falls without His knowing it, nor is there a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or dry, without His knowing it all and having enumerated it. Knowing one thing does not prevent Him from knowing another.”