as near, not distant.

In the two Sahīh collections, Abū Mūsā reports that when the Prophet’s companions began raising their voices in declaring Allah’s greatness, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:
“O people, take it easy! You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent. You are calling upon One who is All-Hearing and Near. The One upon whom you call is nearer to each of you than the neck of his mount.”

Rather, He must be described as exalted and manifest, as the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said in the authentic hadith:
“You are the Manifest, and nothing is above You; You are the Hidden, and nothing is nearer than You.”

Allah the Exalted says:
“And He is the Most High, the Most Great.”
[Surah al-Baqarah 255]

Had he said, “He is the Most High, the Near,” that would have been good and correct. Likewise, had he said, “Near in His exaltedness, exalted in His nearness.”

But describing Him as “the Near, the Far” has no basis. Rather, it describes Him with a beautiful name and its opposite, just as if one were to say, “the High, the Low,” “the Generous, the Miserly,” or “the Merciful, the Hardhearted,” and the like. To Allah the Exalted belong the most beautiful names. The error arises only