Abī Barzah al-Sijistānī, from al-Salt ibn Hakīm, from his father, from his grandfather, who said:

“A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, is our Lord near, so that we may speak to Him privately, or distant, so that we must call out to Him?’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, remained silent, whereupon Allah Most High revealed:

‘When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near. I answer the call of the supplicant when he calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me.’”

When you instruct them to call upon Me and they call upon Me, I answer them.

Here, it should not be said that He is near through His knowledge and power. He knows all things and has power over all things, and they neither doubted this nor asked about it. Rather, they asked about His nearness to those who call upon Him and speak to Him privately. Hence the Most High said:

“When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near. I answer the call of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.”

He thus declared that He is near and answers supplications. A group among Ahl al-Sunnah interpret “nearness” in the verse and the hadith as knowledge, since this is what is sought: when He knows and hears the supplicant’s prayer, the supplicant’s aim is fulfilled. This is what led some to say that He is near to everything in the sense of knowledge and power. Some of the early generations said this, as previously related from Muqātil ibn Hayyān, as did many later scholars. However, none of them said that His very essence is near to everything. All Muslims acknowledge this meaning, both those who say that He is above the Throne and those who say that He is not above the Throne.

Ibn Abī Hātim related, with his chain of transmission, from Abd al-Azīz ibn Abd Allāh ibn Abī Salamah al-Mājishūn, who said:

“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.”

He knows, while being thus, what is whispered by