and Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm—meaning Ibn Rāhawayh—also attended. He was asked whether the hadith concerning the descent was authentic.
He replied, ‘Yes.’ The narrator continued: One of ‘Abd Allāh’s commanders asked him, ‘O Abū Ya‘qūb, do you maintain that Allah descends every night?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’
The man asked, ‘How does He descend?’
Ishāq replied, ‘Affirm that He is above, so that I may describe His descent to you.’
The man said, ‘I affirm that He is above.’
Ishāq said, ‘Allah, mighty and majestic is He, says:
“And your Lord comes, and the angels, rank upon rank.”
[al-Fajr: 22]’
The emir ‘Abd Allāh said to him, ‘O Abū Ya‘qūb, that is on the Day of Resurrection.’
Ishāq replied, ‘May Allah honor the emir! As for the One who comes on the Day of Resurrection, who can prevent Him today?’
He also related, with a chain of transmission, that Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm said:
‘The emir ‘Abd Allāh ibn Tāhir said to me: “O Abū Ya‘qūb, this hadith that you narrate from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—‘Our Lord descends every night to the lowest heaven’—how does He descend?”
‘I replied: “May Allah honor the emir! One does not ask ‘How?’ concerning the Lord’s action. Rather, He descends without any specification of how.”’
He also related, with a chain of transmission, that someone asked ‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak about the descent on the middle night of Sha‘bān.
‘Abd Allāh said, ‘You weak fellow! The middle night? He descends every night.’
The man asked, ‘O Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān, how does He descend? Does that place not become vacant?’
‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak replied, ‘He descends as He wills.’”
Abū ‘Uthmān al-Sābūnī said:
“Since the report concerning the descent was authentically transmitted from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, the people of the Sunnah acknowledged it, accepted the report, and affirmed the descent as the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, described it. They did not believe that His descent resembled that of His creatures. They knew, recognized, were certain, and believed that the attributes of the Lord, blessed and exalted is He