what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human heart has ever conceived. Thus, when Allah tells us about matters of the unseen whose knowledge He has reserved to Himself—Paradise and Hell—we understand their meaning, grasp what we are intended to understand from that address, and explain it. But the actual reality described—such as that which has not yet come to pass and will come to pass only on the Day of Resurrection—belongs to the ta’wīl known only to Allah.

Hence, when Mālik and others among the early generations were asked about the Most High’s words:

“The Most Merciful rose over the Throne,”

they said: “Istiwā’ (rising over the Throne) is known; its manner is unknown. Belief in it is obligatory, and asking about it is an innovation.”

Likewise, Rabī‘ah, Mālik’s teacher, had said before him: “Istiwā’ is known; its manner is unknown. Explanation comes from Allah, conveying the message is the Messenger’s duty, and belief is our duty.” He thus made clear that istiwā’ is known, while its manner is unknown. Statements like this occur frequently in the words of the early generations. The imams deny that Allah’s servants know the manner of His attributes: none but Allah knows how He is, and none but He knows His true reality.

The Prophet said:

“I cannot fully praise You; You are as You have praised Yourself.”

This is recorded in Sahīh Muslim and elsewhere. In another hadith, he said:

“O Allah, I ask You by every name belonging to You with which You have named Yourself, or which You have revealed in Your Book, or taught to any of Your creation, or reserved to Yourself in Your knowledge of the unseen.”

This hadith is recorded in al-Musnad and Sahīh Abī Hātim. In it, he stated that Allah has names which He has reserved to Himself in His knowledge of the unseen.