there is no deity but Allah, Lord of the Noble Throne; there is no deity but Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, Lord of the Noble Throne.”

Imam Aḥmad said (1): "ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Yahyā ibn al-ʿAlāʾ narrated to us; from his uncle Shuʿayb ibn Khālid; he said: Simāk ibn Ḥarb related to me, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmayrah, from al-Aḥnaf ibn Qays (2), from al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib who said:

We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in al-Baṭḥāʾ when a cloud passed overhead. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, “Do you know what this is?” We replied, “A cloud (al-saḥāb).” He said, “And the rain-clouds (al-muzn).” We answered, “The rain-clouds.” He said, “And the thick clouds (al-ʿanān).” Then he was silent and asked, “Do you know how far it is between the heaven and the earth?” (3) We said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “Between them is a distance of five hundred years’ travel. Between each heaven and the next is a distance of five hundred years, and the thickness of every heaven is five hundred years. Above the seventh heaven there is a sea; the distance between its lowest and highest parts is like that between the heaven and the earth. [Above that are eight mountain goats; the distance between their knees and hooves is like that between the heaven and the earth, and upon their backs is the Throne, the distance between its lowest and highest parts is like that between the heaven and the earth.] (4)(5)(6) And Allah is above that, and nothing of the deeds of the children of Adam is hidden from Him.” This is Imam Aḥmad’s wording.

Abū Dāwūd, Ibn Mājah, and al-Tirmidhī (7) also recorded it through the chain of Simāk with a similar wording. Al-Tirmidhī (8) said: “This ḥadīth is ḥasan.” Shurayk narrated part of this ḥadīth from Simāk but halted it (i.e., did not raise it to the Prophet).

The wording in Abū Dāwūd is: “Do you know the distance between the heaven and the earth?” They said, “We do not know.” He said, “The distance between them is either seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three years,” and the remainder is similar. (9)(10)