their waists, and they say: “Glory be to the Possessor of might and irresistible power; glory be to the Possessor of dominion and sovereignty; glory be to the Ever-Living, who does not die—Most Glorified, Most Holy, Lord of the angels and the Spirit.”

Maysarah ibn Arubah said: “Their feet are in the lowest earth, while their heads have pierced the Throne. They are humbled and do not raise their gaze. They are more fearful than the inhabitants of the seventh heaven, and the inhabitants of the seventh heaven are more fearful than those of the heaven next to it, and the latter are more fearful than those of the heaven next to it.” Mujahid said: “Between the angels and the Throne are seventy veils of light.”

Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir narrated from Jabir, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “I have been granted permission to speak about an angel among Allah’s angels who bear the Throne: the distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is a journey of seven hundred years.” (1)

Ja‘far ibn Muhammad narrated from his father, from his grandfather, that he said: “[Indeed, what] (2) lies between one leg of the Throne and the next is the distance covered by a swift-flying bird in thirty thousand years. The Throne is clothed each day in seventy thousand hues of light; no creature among Allah’s creation can look upon it. All things, in comparison with the Throne, are like a ring in an open desert.”

Mujahid said: “Between the seventh heaven and the Throne are seventy thousand veils of light and veils of darkness: a veil of light and a veil of darkness.”

Wahb ibn Munabbih said: “Around the Throne are seventy thousand rows of angels, one row behind another, circling the Throne. These advance while [those retreat] (3). When some of them come face to face with others, these proclaim Allah’s oneness and those proclaim His greatness. Behind them are seventy thousand rows standing, with their hands raised to their necks and placed upon their shoulders. When they hear the glorification of Allah’s greatness and His oneness from those angels, they raise their voices and say: ‘Glory be to You, and all praise is Yours. How tremendous You are’