Yaʿqūb, do you maintain that Allah descends every night?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ The man asked, ‘How does He descend?’ Ishāq said to him, ‘Establish it first, so that I may describe the descent to you.’ The man replied, ‘Establish it.’ Ishāq said to him, ‘Allah Most High says:

“And your Lord comes, and the angels, rank upon rank.”
[Surah al-Fajr 22]

The emir ʿAbd Allāh ibn Tāhir said, ‘O Abū Yaʿqūb, that is on the Day of Resurrection.’ Ishāq replied, ‘May Allah honour the emir! Who could prevent Him today from coming, when He will come on the Day of Resurrection?’”

Harb ibn Ismāʿīl said: “I heard Ishāq ibn Ibrāhīm say, ‘There is no description of the descent.’” He also reported that Ishāq said: “It is not permissible to inquire into matters concerning Allah as one may inquire into matters concerning created beings, for Allah Most High says:

‘He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned.’
[Surah al-Anbiyāʾ 23]

Nor is it permissible to form conceptions of Allah, His attributes and His actions on the basis of one’s understanding of matters concerning created beings that may properly be contemplated and examined. For it is possible for Allah to be described as descending to the lowest heaven every night, once a third of it has passed, as He wills. One must not ask how He descends, for the Creator does whatever He wills, however He wills.”