sweat. Then he said: “Istiwa' (rising over) is not unknown; its manner is beyond comprehension; belief in it is obligatory; and asking about it is an innovation. I think you are nothing but astray.” He then ordered that he be expelled.

It is reported from Sufyan al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, al-Layth ibn Sa'd, Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak, and others among the scholars of the Sunnah, regarding these verses concerning the attributes whose exact reality is beyond human comprehension: “Accept them as they have come, without asking how.”

In Arabic, the word arsh means a throne or couch. It was also said to mean that which is elevated and casts shade, such as a vine trellis. It was also said that arsh means dominion.

“He causes the night to cover the day”: Hamzah, al-Kisai, Abu Bakr, and Yaqub recited yughasshi, with consonant doubling, here and in Surah al-Ra'd, while the rest recited it without doubling. That is, the night comes over the day and covers it. There is an ellipsis here: and He causes the day to cover the night. It is not mentioned because the wording itself indicates it. In another verse, He says: “He wraps the night around the day and wraps the day around the night.” [al-Zumar 5]

“Pursuing it swiftly”: that is, quickly. For when each succeeds and follows the other, it is as though it were pursuing it. “And the sun, the moon, and the stars, subject to His command”: Ibn Amir recited all of them in the nominative case, as a subject and predicate, while the rest recited them in the accusative case. The same applies in Surah al-Nahl, where they are coordinated with His saying, “He created the heavens and the earth.” That is, He created these things in subjection, meaning, made subservient. “By His command. Unquestionably, His are the creation and the command.” Creation belongs to Him because He [created them] (1), and command belongs to Him: He commands within His creation whatever He wills. Sufyan ibn Uyaynah said: “Allah distinguished between creation and command; whoever combines the two has disbelieved.”

“Blessed is Allah”: that is, Allah is exalted and immensely great. It was also said: He is elevated. The word mubarak means elevated. It was also said that tabaraka is derived from barakah, meaning growth and increase; that is, blessing is acquired and attained through His remembrance.

Ibn Abbas said: “He brought every blessing.” Al-Hasan said: “Blessing comes from Him.” It was also said that tabaraka means: He is most holy; and quds means purity. It was also said that “Blessed is Allah” means that blessing is sought through His Name in everything. The verifying scholars said: the meaning of this [attribute] (2) is that He is established and everlasting, as He has never ceased to be and will never cease to be. The root meaning of barakah is permanence. One says, “Blessed is Allah,” but one does not say “mutabarak” or “mubarak” of Him, because no revealed wording authorizes this. “Lord of all worlds.”