—the sixth—within so short a time, then this is something that does not occur with the body.

The descent of the angels—Gabriel and others, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—also falls into this category. Once it is understood that the movement, ascent, descent, and other actions ascribed to angels and human souls do not resemble the movement of human bodies or other things we see with our eyes in this world, and that things are possible for them which are not possible for human bodies, then such attributes ascribed to the Lord are all the more possible and all the further removed from resembling the descent of bodies. Indeed, His descent does not resemble the descent of angels or human souls, even though their descent is closer than the descent of their bodies.

If the deceased’s sitting in his grave is not like bodily sitting, then the expressions “sitting” and “being seated” concerning Allah Most High, found in reports from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—such as the hadith of Ja‘far ibn Abī Tālib, may Allah be pleased with him, and the hadith of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, and other reports, are all the more unlike the attributes of the bodies of His servants.