and because he fears being censured for it. As for categorically asserting that the Throne becomes empty of Him, this has reached us from only a small group among them. The third position—which is correct and is transmitted from the early generations of the Muslim community and its leading scholars—is that He remains above the Throne, and the Throne does not become empty of Him, even as He draws near and descends to the lowest heaven; the Throne is not above Him. The same applies on the Day of Resurrection, as stated in the Book and the Sunnah. His descent is not like the bodily descent of human beings from a rooftop to the ground, leaving the roof above them. Rather, Allah is exalted above that. We shall discuss this, Allah willing; this issue requires an extensive explanation.

As for the claim of one who denies His descent, “Only His command and His mercy descend,” this is erroneous for several reasons. This has already been pointed out on the assumption that those who deny His descent nevertheless affirm His being above. If, however, someone denies both His being above and His descent, he may also be answered in several ways:

(First: “Command” and “mercy” must mean either entities subsisting in their own right, such as angels, or attributes and accidents. If the former is intended, angels descend to the earth at all times, whereas the hadith specifies descent in the depth of the night and makes the lowest heaven its endpoint. The angels’ descent is restricted neither to this time nor to this place. If attributes and accidents are intended—such as the tenderness, humble entreaty, sweetness of worship, and the like that arise in worshippers’ hearts in the hours before dawn—these occur on earth; their endpoint is not the lowest heaven.