“We were with Abū ‘Abd Allāh and asked him about Ibn al-Mubārak’s statement, ‘He rose over the Throne, with a limit.’ We said to him, ‘What does Ibn al-Mubārak mean by “with a limit”?’ He replied, ‘I do not know. But there is supporting evidence for this in five passages of the Quran:

“To Him ascends good speech, and righteous deeds raise it.”
[Fātir 10]

‘And He said:

“Do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not cause the earth to swallow you?”
[al-Mulk 16]

“The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him.”
[al-Ma‘ārij 4]

‘He is on the Throne, and His knowledge encompasses everything.’”

As for their question, “What does Ibn al-Mubārak mean?” and his reply, “I do not know,” he may have meant, “I do not know precisely what he intended, but there is supporting evidence for the apparent meaning of these words”—namely, the scriptural texts indicating that all matters ultimately return to Allah, that He is in heaven, and other such statements. Or he may have meant, “I do not know on what basis he said that, but there is supporting evidence for it.”

Al-Khallāl said: Yūsuf ibn Mūsā informed us that Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ahmad