eight, in the form of mountain goats, the distance from their hooves to their knees being like that between one heaven and another.” (1)
It is also reported in a hadith: “Each one of them has four faces: that of a man, a lion, a bull, and an eagle.” (2)
Abu Bakr ibn al-Haytham al-Turabi informed us; Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Haddadi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yahya al-Khalidi informed us; Ishaq ibn Ibrahim [al-Hanzali] (3) informed us: Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us; Yahya ibn al-Ala narrated to us, from his uncle Shuayb ibn Khalid; Simak ibn Harb narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn Umayrah, from al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, who said:
“We were sitting with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at al-Batha when a cloud passed by. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘Do you know what this is?’ We said: ‘The clouds.’ He said: ‘And the muzn (rain clouds)?’ We said: ‘And the muzn.’ He said: ‘And the anan (clouds)?’ We remained silent. He then said: ‘Do you know how far it is between the heaven and the earth?’ We said: ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’ He said: ‘The distance between them is a journey of five hundred years. Between each heaven and the next is a journey of five hundred years, and the thickness of each heaven is likewise five hundred years. Above the seventh heaven is a sea whose depth is like the distance between heaven and earth. [Then above that are eight mountain goats, the distance between their hooves and their knees being like that between heaven and earth.] (4) Then above that is the Throne, whose height is like the distance between heaven and earth. Allah Most High is above that, and nothing of the deeds of the children of Adam is hidden from Him.’” (5)
This is also narrated from Abdullah ibn Umayrah, from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, from al-Abbas.
It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: “Above them, on that Day, will be eight”—that is, eight ranks of angels, whose number none knows
(1) Narrated by al-Tabari, 29/59; it does not contain the wording: “in the form of ibexes, with the distance between their hooves and knees like that between one heaven and another.” It is a disconnected report. The author of al-Bahr al-Muhit, 8/324, said: “They have mentioned mutually contradictory descriptions of the characteristics of these eight; we have therefore omitted them.”
(2) Narrated by Abd al-Razzaq in al-Tafsir, 2/314, from Abdullah ibn Wahb, from his father. Al-Suyuti, in al-Durr al-Manthur, 8/270, additionally attributed it to Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir, also through Ibn Wahb. Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned it in al-Matalib al-Aliyah, 3/391, attributing it to Ishaq, and said: “It is mawquf (stopped at a Companion) with a weak chain of transmission.” Al-Busiri said: “It is weak because some of its narrators are unknown.”
(3) Manuscript “A” reads: al-Khattabi. The correct reading is that given here, as found in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib.
(4) The text within the parentheses is omitted in manuscript “A”.
(5) A weak hadith, narrated by Abu Dawud in al-Sunnah, “Chapter on the Jahmiyyah,” 7/91-93. Al-Mundhiri said: “Its chain includes al-Walid ibn Abi Thawr, whose hadith cannot be used as evidence.” Al-Tirmidhi narrated it in the commentary on Surat al-Haqqah, 9/234-236, and said: “This is a hasan gharib (fair and uncommon) hadith. Al-Walid ibn Abi Thawr narrated something similar from Simak and raised it to the Prophet, whereas Sharik narrated part of this hadith from Simak as mawquf (stopped at a Companion) and did not raise it.” It was also narrated by Ibn Majah in al-Muqaddimah, 1/69; Ahmad in al-Musnad, 1/206; Ibn Abi Asim in al-Sunnah, 1/253; al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma wa al-Sifat, 2/142-143; Ibn Khuzaymah in al-Tawhid, p. 68; al-Ajurri in al-Shariah, p. 292; al-Darimi in al-Radd ala al-Jahmiyyah, p. 19; and al-Dhahabi in al-Uluw lil-Aliyy al-Ghaffar, p. 33. Al-Hakim declared it authentic, 2/288, 412, but al-Dhahabi objected, saying: “Yahya ibn al-Ala is very weak, and Abdullah ibn Umayrah is unknown.” Al-Bukhari said: “It is not known that he heard from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays,” and Yahya ibn al-Ala was accused of fabricating hadith. See: al-Albani, Zilal al-Jannah fi Takhrij al-Sunnah, 1/254; al-Nahj al-Sadid fi Takhrij Ahadith Taysir al-Aziz al-Hamid, p. 283.