Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:5

(The Most Merciful) is in the nominative case as an expression of praise, meaning: "He is the Most Merciful." Ibn ʿAṭiyyah permitted it to be a substitute (badal) for the hidden pronoun in "He created" (khalaqa). Abū Ḥayyān critiqued this, saying: "I believe that such a thing is not permissible, because a substitute must be able to replace the original, and it cannot do so here, lest it necessitate the 'connecting sentence' (ṣilah) being devoid of a referent (ʿāʾid)." Others prohibited the necessity of the consistency of this replacement. Then he said: "Even granting it, it is permissible for the explicit noun to replace the referent pronoun, as in the verse: 'And you are the one whom I hope for in the mercy of Allah'."

Yes, considering it a substitute is contrary to the apparent meaning. It is permitted to be an initial subject (mubtadaʾ), with the 'al' (the) referring to the covenant/known entity, pointing towards the relative pronoun (man), and its predicate (khabar) being His saying, "Upon the Throne He established Himself."

He is implied (He) and made as a predicate for it based on the possibility of it being a substitute. Based on the first possibility, it is made as a predicate following a predicate for what was implied previously, as in Al-Baḥr and others. Janāḥ ibn Ḥubaysh narrated from some that he read "Al-Raḥmān" in the genitive case (al-raḥmāni). Al-Zamakhsharī interpreted this as it being an adjective for man (who). Abū Ḥayyān critiqued this, saying that the view of the Kūfī scholars is that the incomplete nouns—which are not complete without their relative clauses, like man and mā—cannot be described by adjectives, except for alladhī and allatī. According to them, this interpretation is not permitted. Therefore, it is better for "Al-Raḥmān" to be a substitute for man. It has been treated in the Qurʾān as a proper noun in its occurrence after operational particles. It is said that man can potentially be an indefinite noun modified by an adjective, the sentence "He created" being its descriptor, and "Al-Raḥmān" being an adjective after an adjective; this does not fall under the description of incomplete nouns that are not complete without their clauses. The most that can be said is that it involves the precedence of the sentential adjective over the single-word adjective, which is permissible. This is what you see.

The sentence "Upon the Throne He established Himself," according to this reading, is a predicate of the implied "He." The prepositional phrase (jār wa majrūr) is, in all possibilities, attached to istawā (established), placed before it to observe the rhyme scheme (fawāṣil).

(The Throne) in the language means a king’s seat. In the Sacred Law (Sharīʿah), it is a seat with legs, having bearers from the angels—peace be upon them—above the heavens, resembling a dome. That it has legs is proven by what both Sheikhs (Al-Bukhārī and Muslim) recorded from Abū Saʿīd, who said: A man from the Jews came to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) after his face had been slapped and said: "O Muḥammad, a man from your companions slapped my face." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Call him." He said: "Why did you slap his face?" He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I passed by the market and he was saying: 'By Him who chose Mūsā over all mankind,' so I said: 'O wicked one, and over Muḥammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)?' Then an anger seized me and I slapped him." The Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Do not prefer the prophets over one another, for the people will swoon and I will be the first to recover, and there I will be, with Mūsā—peace be upon him—holding onto one of the legs of the Throne. I do not know if he recovered before me or if he was compensated for the swoon of Mount Ṭūr."

And evidence that it has bearers from the angels—peace be upon them—is His saying: "Those who bear the Throne and those around it glorify with the praise of their Lord and believe in Him."

What Abū Dāwūd narrated from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that he said: "Permission has been granted to me to narrate regarding one of the angels of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—from the bearers of the Throne, that the distance between his earlobes and his shoulders is a journey of seven hundred years."

And evidence that it is above the heavens like a dome is what Abū Dāwūd also narrated from Jubayr ibn Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: A Bedouin came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, lives have been exhausted and wealth has been destroyed—or 'perished'—so ask for rain for us, for we seek you as an intercessor before Allah, and we seek Allah as an intercessor before you." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Woe to you! Do you know what you are saying?" And the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) kept glorifying [Allah] (tasbīḥ) until that was recognized on the faces of his companions. Then he said: "Woe to you! It is not sought that Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—be an intercessor before any of His creation. The status of Allah is greater than that. Woe to you! Do you know what Allah is? Verily, Allah—Exalted is He—is above His Throne, and His Throne is above His heavens, like this," and he indicated with his fingers like a dome, "and it creaks under Him like the creaking of a new saddle under its rider."

From the poetry of Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt: Glorify Allah, for He is worthy of glory, Our Lord is in the heavens, having become Great, With a high structure that has dazzled us, And He established above the heavens a throne, A vaulted structure which the eye cannot attain, You see angels around it like images.

A group of the theologians went [to the view] that it is circular on all sides, surrounding the world from every direction, and it is defined by directions. They sometimes call it the "Atlas Sphere" or the "Ninth Sphere." A commentator on the ʿAqīdah Ṭaḥāwiyyah critiqued this, saying it is not correct due to what is proven by the Sacred Law, that it has legs carried by the angels—peace be upon them. Furthermore, both Sheikhs recorded from Jābir that he said: I heard the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: "The Throne of the Most Merciful trembled at the death of Saʿd ibn Muʿādh." The "Ninth Sphere," according to them, is constantly moving with a uniform motion. Whoever interprets this [trembling] as meaning the rejoicing and happiness of the bearers of the Throne must provide evidence, for the context of the ḥadīth and its wording—as narrated from Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ṭabarī and others—is far from that possibility. Furthermore, it came in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim from the ḥadīth of Juwayriyyah bint al-Ḥārith that it has a weight which is the heaviest of weights, and the [celestial] sphere, in their view, is neither heavy nor light. Furthermore, the Arabs do not understand the [celestial] sphere from it, and the Qurʾān was only revealed in what they understand. The utmost that the report of Abū Dāwūd from Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim indicates is vaulting (taqbīb), and this does not necessitate circularity from all sides as in the case of a sphere; it requires separate evidence. Furthermore, those people, until now—nay, until the Trumpet is blown—have no evidence for limiting the spheres to nine, nor that the ninth is "atlas" (void of stars), and it is not the Kursī (Footstool) according to the correct view. Ibn Jarīr said: Abū Dharr—may Allah be pleased with him—said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: "The Kursī in comparison to the Throne is but as a ring of iron thrown into a vast desert of the earth."

Ibn Abī Shaybah narrated in the book Ṣifat al-ʿArsh (The Description of the Throne), and Al-Ḥākim in his Mustadrak—stating it is upon the conditions of the two Sheikhs—from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "The Kursī is the place for the two feet, and the Throne, none can estimate its size except Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He." It has been narrated as a prophetic report (marfūʿ), but the correct view is that it is stopped at the scholar (mawqūf).

It is said the Throne is a metaphor for sovereignty and authority (mulk wa sulṭān). This was critiqued by some as being a corruption of the words of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He. How would someone who says that address His saying: "And eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them that day"? Would he say: "And eight will bear the sovereignty of your Lord that day"? And the saying of the Prophet—upon him be prayer and peace—"Then there I was, with Mūsā holding onto one of the legs of the Throne." Would he say: "Holding onto one of the legs of the sovereignty"? Neither of these two statements would be uttered by anyone with the slightest taste. Likewise, in the saying: "The Throne of the Most Merciful trembled..." would he say: "The sovereignty and authority of the Most Merciful trembled"? And in what Al-Bukhārī and others narrated from Abū Hurayrah as a prophetic report: "When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in a Book which is with Him above the Throne: 'Verily, My mercy has preceded My anger.'" Is it "with Him above the sovereignty and authority"? This is like the [previous] two statements.

"Establishment" (istiwāʾ) upon a thing has come with the meaning of rising and ascending above it, and with the meaning of settling (istiqrār), as in His saying: "And it settled upon Al-Jūdī," and "That you may settle upon their backs." Since the literal meaning of that is impossible for Him—Exalted is He—it was said: Istiwāʾ here means "conquest/domination" (istīlāʾ), as in the saying: Bishr has conquered ('istawā') Iraq.

This was critiqued by stating that istīlāʾ means the attainment of victory after helplessness, which is impossible regarding Him—Exalted is He. Also, one only says "so-and-so conquered (istawlā)" such-and-such if he has rivals contending with him, which is also impossible regarding Him—Exalted is He. Also, that is only said if the conquered thing was already existent beforehand, but the Throne only came to be by His creation and origination—Glorified is He. Also, istīlāʾ is the same relative to all creatures, so there would be no benefit in specifying the Throne.

Imām Al-Rāzī responded that if istīlāʾ is interpreted as "capacity/power" (iqtidār), these objections vanish entirely. The state of this response is not hidden from the fair-minded. Al-Zamakhsharī said: Since istiwāʾ upon the Throne—which is a royal seat—is not attained except with kingship, they made it a metaphor for kingship, so they said: "So-and-so established himself upon the Throne," intending kingship, even if he never sat upon the Throne at all. They only expressed the attainment of kingship by that because it is more descriptive, clearer, and more indicative of the state of affairs. Similar to that is your saying: "So-and-so's hand is spread open," and "So-and-so's hand is shackled," meaning he is generous or stingy. There is no difference between the two expressions except in what I have said, to the extent that one who has never opened his hand with a gift, or does not even have a hand at all, it is said of him: "His hand is spread open," for they consider it equal to their saying "generous." From this is His saying: "And the Jews said: 'The hand of Allah...'"—the verse. They intended the description of stinginess, and they were refuted that He—Majestic is His Majesty—is generous without the conception of a hand, nor shackling, nor spreading. End quote.

The Imām critiqued this, saying: "If we opened this door, the interpretations of the Bāṭiniyyah would be opened, for they also say: The intended meaning of His saying 'Remove your sandals' is total devotion to the service of Allah without the conception of sandals; and His saying 'O fire, be coolness and safety for Ibrāhīm' means the isolation of Ibrāhīm—peace be upon him—from the hand of that oppressor without there being any fire or address at all. The same applies to everything that appears in the Book of Allah. Rather, the legal principle is that every word that appears in the Qurʾān must be taken according to its literal meaning unless a definitive rational proof exists that necessitates turning away from it. Would that he who knows nothing did not delve into it!" End quote.

It is not hidden from you that opening the door regarding this verse does not necessitate the opening of the interpretations of the Bāṭiniyyah regarding the mentioned verses, as there is no motive there. The motive for interpretation (taʾwīl) according to what Al-Zamakhsharī mentioned is strong to him. Perhaps it is fleeing from the necessity of the impossible while observing the eloquence of the meaning, for what he chose is more eloquent than the meaning of istīlāʾ, whether it be a literal meaning of istiwāʾ—as is apparent in the speech of the Ṣiḥāḥ and Qāmūs and others—or a metaphorical one, as is apparent in their making the interpretation of the burden upon it an interpretation.

The Imām provided arguments for the invalidity of intending the literal meaning with several points:

1. He—Glory be to Him—existed while there was no Throne, and when He created the creation, He was not in need of what He was already needless of.
2. The one settled upon the Throne must have a part obtained on the right of the Throne different from the part obtained on its left; thus He—Glory be to Him—would be composed in His Self, which is impossible regarding Him—Exalted is He—due to the necessity of originated being (ḥudūth).
3. The one settled on the Throne must either be capable of movement and transition, which would necessitate that He—Glory be to Him—be a locus for motion and rest, which is asserting originated being; or he is not capable of that, and he would be like the inanimate, or worse—Allah is Exalted far above that.
4. If it is said that He—Glory be to Him—is specified by this place, which is the Throne, a specifier is required, which is a state of need that Allah—Exalted is He—is beyond. If it is said that He—Mighty and Majestic is He—is in every place, it necessitates what no rational person would say.
5. His saying: "There is nothing like unto Him" is general in negating resemblance. If He were sitting, there would be someone who resembles Him in sitting, thus the verse would be invalidated.
6. If He—Exalted is He—were settled upon the Throne, He would be carried by the angels, due to His saying: "And eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them that day," and the bearer of the bearer of a thing is the bearer of that thing. How can the created carry the Creator?
7. If the one settled in a place were a god, the door to attacking the divinity of the sun and moon would be closed.
8. The world is a sphere; therefore, the direction that is "above" for one people is "below" for others, and vice-versa. It would necessitate—from establishing the direction of "above" for the Worshipped—establishing the opposite direction for others. By the consensus of the rational, it is not permissible to say: "The Worshipped is below."
9. The nation has reached consensus that His saying: "Say: He is Allah, [who is] One" is among the decisive verses (muḥkamāt). On the assumption of settling upon the Throne, composition and divisibility are necessitated, so He—Exalted is He—would not be One in reality, and that decisive verse would be invalidated.
10. The Friend (Al-Khalīl—Ibrāhīm)—peace be upon him—said: "I do not like those who disappear." If He—Exalted is He—were settled upon the Throne, He would be a body, and would thus disappear, falling under the generality of this statement.

End quote.

Then he—may Allah—Exalted is He—pardon him—weakened the view by saying that we are certain that what Allah intended is not what the literal suggests, but rather He—Exalted is He—intended something else. However, we do not designate that intended meaning out of fear of error, because when He—Mighty and Majestic is He—addressed us in the tongue of the Arabs, it is mandatory that we do not intend by the word anything other than its subject matter in their tongue. Since there is no meaning for istiwāʾ in their tongue other than "settling" (istiqrār) or "conquering" (istīlāʾ), and it has become impossible to take it as "settling," it is mandatory to take it as "conquering," lest the negation of the word be necessitated, which is not permissible.

Towards something like this went Sheikh ʿIzz al-Dīn ibn ʿAbd al-Salām, for he said in some of his legal rulings (fatāwā): "The method of interpretation with its conditions—which is for the interpretation to be near—is closer to the truth, because Allah—Exalted is He—only addressed the Arabs with what they know. He has set up the proofs for His intended meaning from the verses of His Book, because He—Exalted is He—said: 'Then it is for Us to make it clear' and 'That you may make clear to the people what was sent down to them.' This is general to all verses of the Qurʾān. Whoever attains the proof, Allah—Exalted is He—makes him understand His intended meaning from His Book, and he is more complete than one who has not attained that, for those who know and those who do not know are not equal." In this is a middle ground on the issue.

Ibn al-Humām mediated the matter—and he had reached the rank of ijtihād as our contemporary Ibn ʿĀbidīn al-Shāmī stated in Radd al-Muḥtār—with a mediation more specific than this mediation. He mentioned what amounts to: The obligation of belief that He—Exalted is He—established Himself upon the Throne, while negating anthropomorphism. As for the meaning being "conquered," it is a permissible intention, not an obligatory one, as there is no evidence for it. If it is feared that the commoners will not understand istiwāʾ—if it is not in the sense of istīlāʾ—except with attachment or other requirements of corporeality, then there is no harm in diverting their understanding to istīlāʾ, for it has been proven to be attributed to Him linguistically in his saying: When we rose ('alawnā) and conquered them ('istawaynā ʿalayhim), We made them pasture for the vulture and the bird. And his saying: "Bishr has conquered ('istawā') Iraq"—the famous verse.

Following what was mentioned, everything that arrived with a literal meaning of corporeality in the witnessed realm—like the finger, the foot, the hand—follows this middle ground of the close between needing it due to a deficiency in the understanding of the commoners, and not needing it. Aḥmad Zarrūq narrated from Abū Ḥāmid that he said: "There is no disagreement on the obligation of interpretation when a doubt is determined that is not lifted except by it." You know that the method of many of the great scholars and pillars of Islam is to refrain from interpretation absolutely, while negating anthropomorphism and corporeality. Among them are Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, Imām Mālik, Imām Aḥmad, Imām Al-Shāfiʿī, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan, Saʿd ibn Muʿādh al-Marwazī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak, Abū Muʿādh Khālid ibn Sulaymān (companion of Sufyān al-Thawrī), Isḥāq ibn Rāhwayh, Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī, Al-Tirmidhī, and Abū Dāwūd al-Sijistānī.

Qāḍī Abū al-ʿAlāʾ Ṣāʿid ibn Muḥammad narrated in his book Al-Iʿtiqād from Abū Yūsuf, from Imām Abū Ḥanīfah, that he said: "It is not fitting for anyone to speak about Allah—Exalted is He—regarding anything of His Self, but he should describe Him with what He—Exalted is He—described Himself, and he should not say anything about Him based on his own opinion. Blessed be Allah—Exalted is He—the Lord of the Worlds."

Ibn Abī Ḥātim extracted in Manāqib Al-Shāfiʿī from Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, who said: I heard Al-Shāfiʿī say: "Allah—Exalted is He—has names and attributes; it is not permissible for anyone to reject them. Whoever opposes this after the proof has been established against him is an infidel. As for before the establishment of the proof, he is excused by ignorance, because the knowledge of that is not attained by reason, nor vision, nor thought. We establish these attributes and negate anthropomorphism from them, as He—Exalted is He—negated it from Himself, saying: 'There is nothing like unto Him.'" The Hafiz Ibn Ḥajar mentioned in Fatḥ al-Bārī that the people of the first three centuries—who are the best of centuries by the testimony of the Possessor of the Law (may Allah bless him and grant him peace)—agreed upon this.

The speech of the Imām of the Haramayn (Al-Juwaynī) in Al-Irshād leans towards the method of interpretation, while his speech in Al-Risālah Al-Niẓāmiyyah explicitly chooses the method of delegation (tafwīḍ), where he said in it: "That which we are satisfied with as a view and adhere to as a creed is following the predecessors (salaf) of the nation. So it is better to follow and leave innovation. The decisive auditory proof for this is the consensus of the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—for they proceeded to refrain from addressing the meanings of the ambiguous, despite them not sparing any effort in establishing the rules of the religion and enjoining the preservation of them and teaching the people what they needed. Had the interpretation of these literal meanings been a Sunnah or an obligation, they would have concerned themselves with it more than the branches of the Law." Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī also chose this in the book he authored regarding the differences of the misguided and the sects of Islam, and in his book Al-Ibānah fī Uṣūl al-Diyānah, which is his last work, as it is said.

Al-Bayḍāwī said in Al-Ṭawāliʿ: "The best is to follow the predecessors in believing in these things"—meaning the ambiguous—"and returning the knowledge to Allah—Exalted is He—after negating what necessitates anthropomorphism and corporeality from Him—Exalted is He." End quote.

The realized Sufis acted upon this, for it has been narrated from a group of them that they said: "People only needed the interpretation of the attributes due to their forgetfulness of the belief that His reality—Exalted is He—is contrary to all other realities. If it is contrary, then there is no anthropomorphism in the verses of attributes at all, for anthropomorphism cannot exist except with the agreement of His reality—Exalted is He—with the realities of His creation, and that is impossible."

From Al-Shaʿrānī: "Whoever needs interpretation has been ignorant both first and last. First, because of his conceiving the attribute of anthropomorphism in the side of the Truth, which is impossible. And last, because of his interpreting what Allah—Exalted is He—revealed in a way that is perhaps not the intention of the Truth—Mighty and Majestic is He."

In his Al-Durar al-Manthūrah, he says: "The interpreter moved from the explanation of the bodily establishment upon the Throne of place by declaring Him above that, to the anthropomorphism of the originated royal command, which is conquest of place. So it is a move from anthropomorphism of one originated thing to anthropomorphism of another originated thing. His intellect in declaring Him above [anthropomorphism] did not reach the level of the Sacred Law in His saying: 'There is nothing like unto Him.'" Don't you see that he cited as evidence for the rational declaration of Him being above [anthropomorphism] in istiwāʾ the saying of the poet: 'Bishr has conquered ('istawā') Iraq.' And where is the istiwāʾ of Bishr upon Iraq from the istiwāʾ of the Truth—Glorified is He—upon the Throne? So the correct [path] is for the servant to observe etiquette with his Lord and entrust the meaning of His speech to Him—Mighty and Majestic is He."

Sheikh Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī narrated in Tanbīh al-ʿUqūl from the Great Sheikh (Ibn ʿArabī)—may his secret be sanctified—that he said in Al-Futūḥāt in the midst of long, strange speech containing [refutations of] the Ashʿarites and the anthropomorphists: "Establishment is a recognized, meaningful reality attributed to every essence according to what the reality of that essence gives. We have no need for the artifice of diverting establishment from its literal meaning." The poor servant [Al-Alūsī] has seen in Al-Futūḥāt, within long speech also in the third chapter of it, the following text: "None of those who went astray from the anthropomorphists went astray except by interpretation and taking what the verses and reports arrived with according to what first comes to mind without looking into what is required for Allah—Exalted is He—of declaration of transcendence. That led them to pure ignorance and clear infidelity. Had they sought safety and left the reports and verses as they arrived without departing from them to anything at all, and entrusted the knowledge of that to Allah and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and said: 'We do not know,' the saying of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—'There is nothing like unto Him' would have sufficed them."

Then he mentioned after that, in speaking about the saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) which Muslim narrated: "Verily, the hearts of the children of Adam are all between two of the fingers of the Most Merciful as one heart, He turns it how He wills," the choice of delegation, but with the condition of negating the bodily organ (jāriḥah), which is necessary, and clarifying what is in that word of the aspects of transcendence. He mentioned that this is obligatory upon the scholar when it is determined in refuting the anthropomorphist innovator.

He also said in what his realized student Ismāʿīl ibn Sūdakīn narrated from him in Sharḥ al-Tajalliyyāt: "It is not permissible for the servant to interpret what arrived from the auditory reports because they do not match his rational proof—like the reports of descent and others—because if the address moved from what it was set for, it would have no benefit. We have known that he—upon him be prayer and peace—was sent to make clear to the people what was sent down to them. Then we saw him (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), with his eloquence, breadth of knowledge, and unveiling, did not tell us that it means 'His mercy descends.' Whoever says 'His mercy descends' has carried the address upon rational proofs, and the Truth in His Self is unknown, so it is not correct to pass judgment upon Him with a specific restricted description. The Arabs understand the attribution of descent absolutely, so they do not restrict it with one judgment without another. Since it was established with them that He—Exalted is He—has nothing like unto Him, the meaning is attained by them absolutely, in a transcendent way. And it might be said to you: 'Reason rejects this.' Say: 'The case is this: if it is correct that the Truth is from the perceptions of reason, then its judgments would apply to Him—Exalted is He.'" End quote.

His student, Sheikh Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī, said in Miftāḥ al-Ghayb after expanding speech on a rule of great status—the essence of which is that the difference between essences necessitates the difference in the attribution of qualities to them—the following text: "This is a rule, whoever knows it, or the secret of it is unveiled for him, knows the secret of the verses and reports that suggest anthropomorphism to those of weak intellects, and he gains insight into the intended meaning of them, so he is saved from the pitfalls of interpretation and anthropomorphism and witnesses the matter as it was mentioned, along with the perfection of transcendence." End quote.

The summary of the speech in this place is that there arrived in the Dear Book and the authentic ḥadīths words that suggest anthropomorphism and corporeality and what does not befit Allah—the Majestic, the Great. The anthropomorphists and the resemblance-seekers (mushabbihah) clung to what they imagined, so they went astray and led others astray, and turned away from the straight path. A group went [to the view] that they are perishing and are disbelievers in their Lord. Others went [to the view] that they are innovators. Some distinguished and said: "They are infidels if they say: 'He—Exalted is He—is a body like other bodies,' and innovators if they say: 'A body, but not like bodies.'" Allah—Exalted is He—protected the people of truth from what they went to and relied upon in their creeds. A group of them established what arrived as it arrived, along with the perfection of transcendence, purified from corporeality and anthropomorphism. So the reality of establishment, for example, is attributed to Him—Exalted is He—in a way that does not necessitate what is necessitated in the witnessed realm. He—Glorified is He—is established upon the Throne while He is needless—Exalted is He—of it, and He carries the Throne and its bearers by His power, and there is no contact, nor an isolating distance between Him—Exalted is He—and it.

When it is correct for the theologians to say: "He—Exalted is He—is not the essence of the world, nor inside it, nor outside it," despite the fact that intuition almost judges the invalidity of that being between one thing and another, it is correct for this group to say that regarding His establishment—Exalted is He—established by the Book and the Sunnah. So Allah—Exalted is He—and His attributes are beyond the stage of reason, so it does not accept its judgment except in what was in the stage of thought. For the thinking power, its function is to act upon what is in the imagination and the memory of the images of the sensible and the partial meanings, and from arranging them according to the law, another knowledge is attained by the intellect, between which and these things there is a relevance. Since there is no relevance between the essence of the Truth—Glorified is He—and anything, the knowledge of the reality is not deduced from the premises that the intellect arranges. So the hands of how are paralyzed, the necks of reaching towards knowing the reality are shackled, the feet of striving towards anthropomorphism are fettered, and the eyes of vision and insight are blinded from perception and encompassing.

Al-Lālakāʾī extracted in the book Al-Sunnah via Al-Ḥasan, from his mother, from Umm Salamah, that she said: "Establishment is not unknown, the how is not intelligible, affirmation of it is faith, and denying it is disbelief." And via Rabīʿah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, that he was asked: "How did He establish Himself upon the Throne?" He said: "Establishment is not unknown, the how is not intelligible, and upon Allah—Exalted is He—is the sending, and upon His Messenger is the conveyance, and upon us is submission." Whenever they said [this] by negating the requirements entirely, the previous objections were repelled from them, and they were protected from all other calamities. This group is said to be the pious predecessors (al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ). It is also said that the predecessors, after negating what is imagined of anthropomorphism, say: "We do not know the meaning of that, and Allah—Exalted is He—is more knowing of His intention."

This was objected to by saying that the verses and reports containing the likes of this are very numerous, and it is extremely far-fetched that Allah—Exalted is He—and His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) would address the servants regarding what returns to creed with what the meaning of is not known. Also, it has arrived in the reports what indicates the understanding of the addressee of the meaning of the likes of that. Abū Nuʿaym extracted from Al-Ṭabarānī, who said: ʿAyyāsh ibn Tamīm narrated to us, Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb Al-Maqābirī narrated to us, Sām ibn Sālim narrated to us, Khājah ibn Muṣʿab narrated to us, from Zayd ibn Aslam, from ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, from ʿĀʾishah—may Allah be pleased with her—who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: "Allah—Exalted is He—laughs at the despair of His servants and their despondency, and the closeness of mercy to them." I said: "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah, does our Lord laugh?" He said: "Yes, by Him in whose hand is my soul, He indeed laughs." I said: "He will not hold back good from us if He laughs." For she—may Allah be pleased with her—would not have said what she said had she not understood a meaning from His laughter—Exalted is He.

It has been authentically narrated from some of the predecessors that they interpreted. In Ṣaḥīḥ Al-Bukhārī, Mujāhid said: "Established upon the Throne" means "ascended upon the Throne." Abū al-ʿĀliyah said: "Established upon the Throne" means "rose." It is said that the predecessors are two divisions: a division of them, after they negated anthropomorphism, designated the literal meaning stripped of the requirements. A division saw the correctness of designating that, and the correctness of designating another meaning that is not impossible for Him—Exalted is He—as some of the successors (khalaf) did. So they observed etiquette and were cautious regarding the attributes of the Lord, and said: "We do not know what the meaning of that is," meaning the meaning intended for Him—Mighty and Majestic is He—and Allah—Exalted is He—is more knowing of His intention.

A group of those who declare Him above anthropomorphism and corporeality went [to the view] that the intended meaning is not the literals while negating requirements, but rather the intended meaning is a specific meaning, which is such-and-such, and often that is a metaphorical meaning, and sometimes it is a literal meaning of the word. These are a group from the successors. It may happen that they entrust the intended meaning to Him—Glorified is He—also, that is when the metaphorical or literal meanings—from which no harm is imagined—are multiple, and no evidence has arisen for them to prefer one of them, so they say: "The word potentially means such-and-such, and Allah—Exalted is He—is more knowing of His intention of that."

The method of the Sufis, according to what Sheikh Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī and others mentioned, is to run the ambiguous according to their literals while negating the requirements and declaring [Him] above [them] by "There is nothing like unto Him," like the method of the first predecessors. Their saying regarding the manifestation (tajallī) in the appearances is according to this way. The speech of the Great Sheikh—may his secret be sanctified—in this place is erratic, as is witnessed by what you heard narrated from him first, along with what he mentioned in the second chapter of the second book of Al-Futūḥāt, for he said in counting the transcendent sects: "And a group of the transcendents also, and they are the elite, and they are our companions. They emptied their hearts from thought and contemplation and made them vacant, and said: 'There occurred in our souls of the glorification of Allah—the Truth—Glorified is His Majesty—such that we are not able to attain knowledge of what arrived to us from Him by subtle thought and contemplation.' So they resembled in this creed the first-generation believers whose creeds were sound, as they did not contemplate and did not interpret, but said: 'We did not understand.' So our companions said what they said. Then they moved from the rank of these by saying: 'It is for us to follow another way in understanding these words, and that is by emptying our hearts from intellectual contemplation and sitting with the Truth—Exalted is He—by remembrance upon the carpet of etiquette, surveillance, presence, and preparation to accept what arrives from Him—Exalted is He—until the Truth—Glorified is He—is the one taking charge of our teaching by unveiling and realization of what they heard Him—Exalted is He—say: 'And fear Allah, and Allah teaches you,' and 'If you fear Allah, He will make for you a criterion,' and 'Say: My Lord, increase me in knowledge,' and 'We taught him from Our presence knowledge.'"

When their hearts and aspirations turned towards Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—and took refuge in Him—Glorified is He—and cast off what others held onto of claiming research, contemplation, and the results of the intellects, their intellects were sound and their hearts were purified and vacant. When this preparation was theirs, the Truth manifested to them clearly, teaching them, so that witnessing informed them of the meanings of those words all at once. So they knew the transcendent meaning for which they were driven, and that varies according to the difference in the ranks of their arrival. This is the state of a group of us, and the state of another group of us also, they do not have this manifestation, but they have casting, inspiration, meeting, and the Book, and they are protected in what is cast to them by signs they have which others do not know, and they inform of what they were addressed with and what they were inspired with and what was cast to them or written. End quote.

Perhaps those who say to run the ambiguous according to their literals while negating the requirements, like the method of the first predecessors among the Sufis, is a group to whom what happened to these two groups did not happen. And grace is in the hand of Allah; He gives it to whom He wills.

This remains: is what the predecessors are upon called interpretation or not? The famous view is not calling what the delegation-group (mufawwiḍah) is upon "interpretation." Some called it interpretation, like what the successors are upon. Al-Laqānī said: "The successors—and it is expressed by them as the interpreters (muʾawwilah)—and the predecessors—and it is expressed by them as the delegation-group (mufawwiḍah)—agreed upon declaring Him—Exalted is He—above the restricted meaning that the literal indicates, and upon its interpretation and removing it from its literal meaning which is impossible, and upon believing in it, that it is from Allah—Exalted is He—brought by His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). They only differed in designating a holder for it of a correct meaning and not designating it, based on whether the stop is at His saying—Exalted is He—'And those firm in knowledge' or at His saying—Glorified is He—'Except Allah.' The interpretation of the predecessors is called 'general' and the interpretation of the successors is called 'detailed.'" End quote, summarized.

Our Sheikh, the scholar ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn, used to say: "What the delegation-group is upon is one interpretation, and what the interpreters are upon is two interpretations." Perhaps it refers to what you heard. As for what those saying [to use] the literals while negating the requirements are upon, and the literal of the words themselves demands them, it involves removing the word from what the literal demands, and removing the word from that for a proof, even if it is outweighed, is interpretation. The meaning of them being "sayers of the literals" is that they are sayers of them in general. It is said: "There is no interpretation in it because they consider the word from the aspect of its attribution to Him—Glorified is His Majesty—and it is from this aspect that it does not demand the requirements, so there is no removing the word from what the literal demands." Don't you see that the people of the Sunnah and the community agreed upon the vision of Allah—Exalted is He—in the Hereafter while negating the requirements of vision in the witnessed realm of face-to-face, distance, and others, even though no one among them said that this is from interpretation in anything.

Some of the virtuous said: "Everyone who interprets has interpreted, and everyone who does not interpret has not interpreted, because interpretation is explanation. So everyone except the delegation-group are interpreters." This is what the literal of His saying—Exalted is He—demands: "And no one knows its interpretation except Allah, and those firm in knowledge say: 'We believe in it,'" based on the stop being at "Except Allah." It is not hidden that the statement that those who say [to use] the literals while negating the requirements are from the interpreters who are not included in those firm in knowledge—based on the mentioned stop—does not stand with the statement that they are from the predecessors who are who they are. It is sometimes said: "They are included in the firm in knowledge, and interpretation in another sense appears by investigation and contemplation." The speech regarding the intended meaning of the ambiguous has preceded, and we mentioned what is understood from it of the difference in the meaning of interpretation.

I incline towards interpretation and not saying [to use] the literals while negating the requirements in some of what is attributed to Allah—Exalted is He—like their saying—Glorified is He—"We shall attend to you, O you two heavy ones" and His saying—Mighty and Majestic is He—"O sorrow for the servants," as in some of the readings, and likewise his saying (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), if authentic: "The Black Stone is the right hand of Allah on His earth, so whoever kisses it or shakes hands with it, it is as if he shook hands with Allah and kissed His right hand." So I make the speech in it [as] exiting [as] a form of anthropomorphism due to the appearance of the context. I do not say: "The Black Stone is of His attributes—Exalted is He—as the predecessors said regarding the hand." And I see that whoever says [to use] the literals and negating the requirements in all of it, the [relation] between him and the statement of the unity of existence (waḥdat al-wujūd)—according to the way the realized Sufis said it—is like what is between the black of the eye and its white.

I also incline towards the statement of the vaulting (taqbīb) of the Throne due to the authenticity of the ḥadīth in that. The closest to the rational proof is the statement of its sphericity (kurriyyah). Whoever says that responded to the previous reports with what is not hidden from the intelligent.

The Great Sheikh Muḥyī al-Dīn—may his secret be sanctified—said in the 371st chapter of Al-Futūḥāt: "It is possessor of four corners and four faces, which are its original legs. Between every two legs are legs, and their number is known to us, and I will not explain it..." to the end of what he said. His speech is understood as saying its legs are not in the meaning that leaps to the mind. He stated explicitly that it is one of its bearers and that it descended at the best of the legs, which is the treasury of mercy. He mentioned that the darkness surrounds it and that the image of the world in its entirety is the image of a circular sphere. He lengthened the speech in this chapter and brought in it wonder of wonders. He does not have, in most of what he mentioned in it, a basis we know of from the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). Among it is what is not permissible for us to take according to its literal. The apparent meaning is that the Throne is one, and he said what he said from the Sufis regarding its multiplicity. And it is not hidden what is in the attribution of establishment to Him—Exalted is He—by the title of the "Most Merciful" from what increases the strength of hope in Him—Glorified is He. Glory be to Him whose mercy encompasses everything.