The bearers of the Throne at present are four,(1) a report that seems to clash with the ḥadīth of the mountain goats.(2) It may be answered, however, that establishing these four with the stated attributes does not rule out the existence of others—and Allah knows best.
From the poetry of Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt about the Throne are his words:
[in the khafīf metre]
Exalt Allah, for He alone is worthy of exaltation;
Our Lord in the highest heaven is supremely great;(4)
By the lofty structure that dazzled humankind,
He set above the heavens a royal seat;(5)
Soaring, beyond the reach of any earthly gaze;
Around it you see angels with necks bent in awe.(6)
ṣuwar: the plural of aṣwar, denoting one whose neck is inclined upward in reverence.(7)
al-sharjiʿ: something exceedingly elevated.
al-sarīr: in linguistic usage, the Throne.
Among the verse of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah —may Allah be pleased with him— which he recited obliquely before his wife when she suspected him concerning his slave girl,(8) are these lines:
[in the wāfir metre]
I testify that Allah’s promise is true,
And that the Fire is the dwelling of the unbelievers;
That the Throne floats upon the water,
And above the Throne is the Lord of all creation;
It is borne by noble angels,
Angels of God, distinguished and marked.(9)
Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr(10) cited these verses, as did a number of other leading scholars.
(1) In manuscript A it reads “four,” which is a slip by the copyist.
(2) The hadith of al-Awāl is also weak, though the term “eight” occurs in the Qur’an.
(3) Likewise in manuscripts B and T; in A it reads “these four.”
(4) In his Diwan: “... qadeeran.”
(5) In his Diwan: “with the higher construction mentioned above…”
(6) The verses form the opening of a qasida in his Diwan (p. 399), with their isnad provided there; they come from his suspect poetry, as Dr. al-Sutali noted.
(7) The entry in al-Nihaya by Ibn al-Athir; and in al-Lisan: ṣawr, the tilting of the neck caused by the weight it bears.
(8) In al-Amaalī al-Yazīdī (p. 102): Abd Allah ibn Rawahah had a jariya (slave girl) whose relationship he concealed from his family. His wife said, “I saw you entering with your jariya, and now you are junub.” He denied it. She replied, “If you are truthful, then recite the Qur’an to me.” He answered, “I bear witness…” [verses]. She said, “I believe in Allah, but sight has lied.” He then reported this to Ibn Rawahah, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), who laughed and did not punish him. His wife neither memorized nor recited the Qur’an, so she assumed he had been reading from her own recitation. See Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’ (vol. 1, p. 238) and the verses in the Diwan of Abd Allah ibn Rawahah (p. 164).
(9) In al-Amaalī al-Yazīdī: “and eight shuddād carry it.” In his Diwan, in al-Amaalī al-Yazīdī, and in al-Siyar it appears as muqarrabīna.
(10) al-Isti‘āb (vol. 6, p. 171), marginal note in al-Isābah (ed. Taha al-Zini, Cairo).