and those with you, aboard the ship.”

“The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was brought a mount to ride. When he placed his foot in the stirrup, he said, ‘In the name of Allah.’ When he had settled on its back, he said, ‘Praise be to Allah.’”

Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited the pilgrimage invocation for Hajj when he had settled on his camel.”

This meaning entails two things: being above that upon which one has settled, and also being upright. They do not describe someone leaning over something as having settled upon it. This also includes the account of al-Khalīl ibn Ahmad saying, “Straighten yourselves.”

The verse:

“Then Bishr rose over Iraq,
Without a sword or blood being shed,”

belongs to this same category. The person meant is Bishr ibn Marwān, and his rising over Iraq means taking his place upon its royal throne. The poet did not mean merely gaining mastery over it, but Bishr’s taking his place over it. Otherwise, ‘Abd al-Malik, who was the caliph, would also have risen over Iraq and the rest of the Islamic realm; ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb would have risen over Iraq, Khurāsān, Syria, Egypt, and all the other lands he conquered; and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have risen over Yemen and the other lands he conquered.

Yet it is well known that their speech contains no instance of using “rising over” in any of these cases. Rather, it was said of someone who personally took his place over a land, for he takes his place upon his royal throne, just as one says, “So-and-so sat upon the throne,” or, “He seated himself upon the royal seat.” This also includes His saying:

“And he raised his parents upon the throne, and they fell down before him in prostration.”

And His saying:

“Indeed, I found a woman ruling over them. She has been given of all things, and she has a magnificent throne.”