649 — Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ya‘qub and Ali ibn ⦗432⦘ Muhammad ibn ‘Umar informed us. They said: ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hatim informed us. He said: Muhammad ibn ‘Ammar ibn al-Harith narrated to us. ‘Abd al-Rahman—that is, Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Dashtaki—narrated to us. He said: ‘Amr ibn Abi Qays informed us.

650 — Abu Zur‘ah, ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Abi ‘Abd al-Rahman, and Kathir ibn Shihab also narrated to us. They said: Muhammad ibn Sa‘id ibn Sabiq narrated to us. He said: ‘Amr narrated to us, from Simak ibn Harb, from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umayrah, from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, from al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, who was sitting at al-Batha with a group of people, among whom the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was seated. A cloud passed over them, and they looked at it. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

“Do you know what this is called?”

They said, “It is a cloud.”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “And a rain-cloud.”

They said, “And a rain-cloud.”

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “And a cloud-bank.”

Then the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Do you know how far it is between heaven and earth?”

They said, “By Allah, we do not know.”

He said, “The distance between them is seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three ⦗433⦘ years. The heaven above it is likewise.” Ibn Sabiq said in his narration, “And the third heaven above it is likewise,” until he counted them as seven heavens, each likewise.

Then he said, “Above the seventh is a sea, whose depth is the distance from one heaven to the next. Above that are eight ibexes, and the distance between their hooves and their knees is the distance from one heaven to the next. Then, above their backs is the Throne, whose lower and upper extent is the distance from one heaven to the next. And Allah, Most High, is above that.”

651 — Ahmad ibn ‘Ubayd informed us. He said: Ali ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Mubashshir informed us. He said: Jabir ibn Kurdi narrated to me. He said: Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah al-Dawlabi narrated to us. He said: al-Walid ibn Abi Thawr al-Hamadani narrated to us, from Simak, from ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umayrah, from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, from al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib, who said: I was among a group of people, and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, was among them. A cloud passed by, and he looked at it and said, “What do you call this?” They said, “A cloud,” and he mentioned the hadith. Abu Dawud and Abu ‘Isa al-Tirmidhi recorded it through al-Walid.