in his Sahīh, as well as by others; al-Bukhārī related it through Ibn Ishāq from him—

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said to them, ‘What do you say about this star that is hurled?’

“They replied, ‘O Messenger of Allah, when we saw it being hurled, we used to say, “A king has died; a child has been born; a child has died.”’

“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘That is not so. Rather, when Allah decrees a matter concerning His creation, those at the Throne hear it and glorify Him. Those below them then glorify Him in response to their glorification, and those below them do likewise. The glorification continues to descend until it reaches the lowest heaven. Some of them then ask one another, “Why did you glorify Him?”

‘They reply, “Those above us glorified Him, so we glorified Him in response to their glorification.”

‘They ask, “Will you not ask those above you why they glorified Him?” So they ask them, and they reply, “Allah has decreed such and such concerning His creation,” naming the matter in question. The news then descends from heaven to heaven until it reaches the lowest heaven, where they speak of it. The devils then steal a hearing of it, amid their own conjecture and disagreement,