exalted is He:

“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne.”

“How did He rise over it?” He replied: “Rising over is known; how is unknown. Believing in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation.” Rabī‘ah had said the same before him. People have accepted this statement, and no one among Ahl al-Sunnah rejects it. He made clear that rising over is known, just as everything else Allah has told us is known. Its manner, however, is unknown, and it is not permissible to ask about it: one must not ask, “How did He rise over it?” Mālik did not say that there is no manner; rather, he said that the manner is unknown.

There is disagreement about this among our associates and other scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah. Most of them, however, say: “His manner of being cannot be conceived by the mind, nor can His essential nature be expressed in words.” Some say: “He has neither a manner of being nor an essential nature.”

If it is said that his statement, “Rising over is known,” means that the occurrence of this wording in the Quran is known—as some of our associates have maintained, regarding knowledge of these meanings as part of the interpretation whose knowledge Allah has reserved to Himself—the reply is:

This is a weak explanation, for it merely states what is already known. The questioner already knew that this occurs in the Quran and had recited the verse.

Moreover, he did not say, “The mention of rising over in the Quran,” or, “Allah’s declaration that He rose over.” Rather, he said: