Muqatil ibn Hayyan, from al-Dahhak ibn Muzahim, from Ibn ‘Abbas, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: “Allah has a pillar of light whose lower end is beneath the seventh earth and whose upper end is under the Throne. Whenever a servant says: ashhadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa anna Muhammadan rasul Allah (I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), that pillar trembles. Allah then says to it, ‘Be still.’ It replies, ‘My Lord, how can I be still when You have not yet forgiven the one who uttered it?’ Allah, exalted is He, says, ‘I have indeed forgiven him.’ (1) The Messenger of Allah ﷺ added, ‘So make that pillar shake often.’ (2)

36- Muhammad informed us; Ahmad informed us; Abu Nu‘aym the ḥāfiẓ informed us; Bakr ibn Khallad narrated to us; al-Harith ibn Abi Usamah narrated to us; Abu Nu‘aym narrated to us; al-A‘mash, from Ibrahim al-Taymi, from his father, from Abu Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—who said: We were sitting with the Prophet ﷺ in the mosque at the time of sunset. He said, “O Abu Dharr, do you know where the sun sets?” I replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “It goes until it prostrates beneath the Throne before its Lord, seeks permission, and is not granted it until it intercedes and pleads. When the delay grows long, it is said to it, ‘Rise from the place where you set,’ and that is—”