The first is that one may say:
No reliable evidence—whether scriptural or rational—has established that the “Throne” is one of the round, spherical celestial spheres. This was asserted only by a group of later scholars who studied “astronomy” and other branches of philosophy. They held that there are nine celestial spheres, and that the ninth—al-Atlas—encompasses the others and is spherical like them. It imparts to them their eastern motion, although each sphere has its own particular motion besides this common motion.
Then, upon hearing mention in the accounts of the prophets—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—of “Allah’s Throne,” His “Footstool,” and the “seven heavens,” they conjectured that the “Throne” was the ninth sphere. This was because they believed that beyond the ninth sphere there was either nothing whatsoever or, alternatively, nothing created.
Some of them then held that the “ninth sphere” sets all the other spheres in motion, so they made it the source of events. They claimed that Allah brings into being within it whatever He decrees for the earth, or brings it into being within the “soul” which they claimed was attached to it, or within the “intellect” from which they claimed this sphere had emanated. Some of them sometimes called this intellect the spirit; others sometimes identified the “soul” with the spirit. Some also identified the “soul” with the Preserved Tablet, just as they identified the “intellect” with the Pen. At other times, they identify the “spirit” with the tenth, active intellect associated with the sphere of the moon