32- He is alluding to the hadith that has come down on this point through several chains; I have examined it in Silsilat al-Aḥādīth al-Ṣaḥīḥa, no. 109, and it will appear in this book under its designated number.

33- The author, may Allah have mercy on him, asserted categorically that the Prophet said it, and he was entitled to do so, for the report is soundly established through numerous chains. A number of scholars have authenticated it, as was noted earlier under no. 1.

42- Ḥassān ibn ʿAṭiyya said: “The bearers of the Throne are eight. They respond to one another in a beautiful, melodious voice. Four of them say, ‘Glory be to You and praise be to You for Your forbearance after Your knowledge,’ and four say, ‘Glory be to You and praise be to You for Your pardon after Your power.’” Its chain of transmission is strong.

34- The compiler related it through the route of al-Walīd ibn Yazīd al-ʿUdhri—“al-Awzāʿī narrated it to us from him.” As he noted, this is a robust chain. Rawād ibn al-Jarrāḥ also followed al-Awzāʿī with the same report. Abū Shaykh recorded it in al-ʿAẓama (folio 88/1, Islāmī Office facsimile).

43- From Abū Hurayrah, from the Prophet: “Whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger, establishes the prayer, and fasts Ramadan, it is a right upon Allah to admit him into Paradise—whether he strives in the path of Allah or remains in the land where he was born.” They asked, “Messenger of Allah, should we not give the people glad tidings of that?” He replied, “In Paradise there are one hundred levels that Allah has prepared for those who strive in His path; the distance between two levels is like that between heaven and earth. When you ask Allah, then ask Him for al-Firdaws, for it is the middle and the highest part of Paradise; above it is the Throne of the Most Merciful, and from it flow the rivers of Paradise.” Recorded by al-Bukhārī1.

Al-Bukhārī, near the end of his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the chapter on the verse, “and His Throne was upon the water” (Q 11:7)—He is the Lord of the Mighty Throne—then said: Mujāhid commented, “istawā, that is, rose above, the Throne.”

35- Al-Firyābī supplied a continuous chain back to Mujāhid that is authentic. I say: This is a rebuttal of certain contemporary writers who mislead people into thinking that the early scholars spoke about the verses concerning the divine attributes without interpreting them at all.