One is that He would never be above the Throne, but would always remain beneath it.

Another is that, on this assumption, time would have to be many, many times longer than it actually is for this to occur.

Another is that, if His descent to the heaven above these people continues until their dawn breaks, and it is nevertheless possible that He has also descended to others whose final third of the night differs from theirs in how early or late it occurs and how long or short it is, then this contradicts what they imagined. For they cannot conceive of someone descending as created beings descend, who descends to the heaven above these people throughout their final third of the night while also, at that very time, descending to the heaven above others—even though His descent must occur earlier or later, or last longer or shorter, for one group than for the other.

It is related that an ignorant man was asked, “What, then, happens to the heavens when He descends?” He replied, “He raises them and then puts them back, and He is able to do that.”

All those who imagine that the attributes with which the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, described his Lord resemble the attributes of their own bodies are astray. They then divide into two groups.

One group recognized that this was false, but supposed that it was the apparent meaning and import of the text, and that no other meaning could be understood from it. They therefore either subject it to an interpretation that distorts words from their proper places, or say, “Nothing can be understood from it,” claiming that this is “the way of the early generations.”