and His rising over the Throne. He then turned to the divine attributes, beginning with an explanation of this surah. He said:

“Chapter on Some of the Attributes with Which Allah Has Described Himself in His Book and through His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”

'Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal narrated to us: My father narrated to me: Muhammad ibn Muyassar, Abū Sa'īd al-Sāghānī, narrated to us: Abū Ja'far al-Rāzī narrated to us, from al-Rabī', from Abū al-'Āliyah, from Ubayy ibn Ka'b, who related that the polytheists came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, “O Muhammad, tell us the lineage of your Lord.” Allah Most High then revealed:

“Say: He is Allah, the One. (1) Allah, the Eternal Refuge. (2)”

He said: “Al-Samad is the One who neither begets nor is begotten, and to whom none is comparable. For everything that is born will die, and everyone who dies leaves an inheritance. Allah Most High neither dies nor leaves an inheritance. ‘And there is none comparable to Him’: He has no likeness or equal, and there is nothing like Him.”

I say: This hadith was also cited earlier from Ibn Abī 'Āsim's Book of the Sunnah. It is well known as a report from this Abū Sa'd, and others have narrated it on his authority.