I say: This is ‘Abd al-Rahmān’s transmission of his father’s words; his father was more knowledgeable, possessed greater understanding, and was sounder in his statements.

Then this Abū al-Qāsim ‘Abd al-Rahmān ibn Abī ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mandah said:

“Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allāh ibn Muhammad al-Warrāq, from Zakariyyā ibn Yahyā al-Sājī.”

Then ‘Abd al-Rahmān said: “Ahmad ibn Nasr narrated to me: ‘I was with Sulaymān ibn Harb when a speculative theologian came to him and said, “You say that Allah is upon His Throne and does not leave it; yet you also narrate that Allah descends to the lowest heaven?”

“He replied, citing Hammād ibn Zayd: ‘Allah is upon His Throne, but He draws near to His creation however He wills.’”

‘Abd al-Rahmān said:

“Whoever claims that, by saying, ‘He draws near to His creation however He wills,’ Hammād ibn Zayd and Sulaymān ibn Harb meant that He does not leave His place has attributed to them a position contrary to what is stated in the Book and the Sunnah.”

He said:

“‘Abd al-Samad ibn Muhammad al-Ma‘āsimī narrated to us in Balkh: Ibrāhīm ibn Ahmad al-Mustamlī informed us: ‘Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad ibn Hirāsh informed us: Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Ziyād narrated to us: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ash‘ath narrated to us, saying: ‘I heard al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyād say: “If a Jahmī says to you, ‘I do not believe in a Lord who leaves His place,’ say to him, ‘I believe in a Lord who does whatever He wills.’”’”

He said: “A number of narrators reported this from al-Fudayl ibn ‘Iyād.”

He said:

“None of them meant by this that Allah does what the heretics maintain. Thus, there is no difference between someone who says, ‘I disbelieve in a Lord who descends and ascends,’ and someone who says, ‘I believe in a Lord whose Throne is never without Him,’ in negating what is declared by