On the authority of Ibn Masʿūd — may Allah be pleased with him — who said: “Between the lowest heaven and the one above it lies a distance of 500 years’ travel; between every heaven and the next is 500 years; between the seventh heaven and the kursī (Footstool) is 500 years; between the Footstool and the water is 500 years; the Throne is above the water, and Allah is above the Throne. Nothing that you do is hidden from Him.” It was transmitted by Ibn Mahdī, from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from ʿĀṣim, from Zirr, from ʿAbd Allāh.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Dhahabī — may Allah have mercy on him — said: It was also reported with similar wording by al-Masʿūdī, from ʿĀṣim, from Abū Wāʾil, from ʿAbd Allāh, and it has several chains.

Al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib — may Allah be pleased with him — related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do you know how far the distance is between the heaven and the earth?” We replied, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “Between them is a distance of 500 years’ travel; between every heaven and the next is 500 years; the thickness of each heaven is 500 years; and between the seventh heaven and the Throne there is a sea whose upper and lower limits are as far apart as the heaven and the earth. Allah is above that, and nothing of the deeds of the children of Adam is hidden from Him.” (1) It was recorded by Abū Dāwūd and others.

Do you know?: He couched the report in the form of a question so that it would be more forceful in