the glad tidings, O Banū Tamīm.’ They said, ‘You have given us glad tidings; now give us something.’ He said:

‘Accept the glad tidings, O people of Yemen.’

They said, ‘We have accepted them. Now tell us how all this began.’ He said:

‘Allah was before all things, His Throne was upon the water, and He wrote in the Tablet the record of everything.’

It is also reported from Abū Razīn al-‘Uqaylī, whose questions pleased the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that he said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, where was Allah, our Lord, before He created the heavens and the earth?’ He said:

‘He was in a cloud, with air above and air below. Then He created His Throne upon the water.’

Then he—meaning the Jahmī—said, ‘Tell me how He established Himself over