English
Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: While the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) was sitting with his companions, a cloud passed over them 1. The Prophet of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Do you know what this is?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “This is the Anan, the water-bearers of the earth. Allah drives it to a people who do not thank Him nor call upon Him.” Then he said: “Do you know what is above you?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “It is the firmament, a protected ceiling, and a restrained wave.” Then he said: “Do you know what is between you and it?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “Between you and it is a distance of five hundred years.” Then he said: “Do you know what is above that?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “The distance between them is five hundred years,” and so on until he counted seven heavens, the distance between each heaven being like that between the heaven and the earth. Then he said: “Do you know what is above that?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “Above that is the Throne, and between it and the heaven is a distance like that between two heavens.” Then he said: “Do you know what is beneath you?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “It is the earth.” Then he said: “Do you know what is beneath that?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “Beneath it is another earth, the distance between them a journey of five hundred years,” until he counted seven earths, the distance between each two earths being a journey of five hundred years. Then he said: “By Him in whose hand is Muhammad’s soul, if you lowered a man by a rope to the lowest earth, he would reach Allah.” 2 Then he recited: “He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden, and He is of all things Knowing” [Al-Hadid: 3]. [Narrated by Ahmad and Tirmidhi] Tirmidhi said: 3 The recitation of the verse by the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) indicates that he meant: “he would reach Allah’s knowledge, power, and authority.” Allah’s knowledge, power, and authority are in every place, and He is above the Throne as He described Himself in His Book.
Possible references (unverified, pending editorial review)
- Candidate: Jami al-Tirmidhi 3298 (unverified) 97% confidence
Confidence and text similarity are not editorial verification.
Commentary and footnotes (4)
Note 1
(1) His statement: “a cloud passed over them”: That is, it passed by. His statement: “to a people who do not thank Him” means they disbelieve in Him by attributing the rain to the conjunction, separation, setting, or rising of stars, saying: “We were rained upon by such-and-such a star.” His statement: “nor call upon Him” means they do not mention Allah, nor seek from Him, nor worship Him, but worship idols. Yet, with His universal generosity, He provides for them and grants them well-being like the rest of humanity and animals. His statement: “the firmament” is a name for the lowest heaven. His statement: “a restrained wave” means prevented from flowing freely. The meaning is that Allah has preserved it from falling to the earth, and it is suspended without pillars, like a restrained wave. (Extracted from Al-Mirqat)
Note 2
(2) His statement: “he would reach Allah”: That is, His knowledge and dominion, as Tirmidhi explicitly stated in his commentary. The meaning is that He, the Exalted, encompasses with His knowledge and power the lowest of His creation, as He does the highest of His dominion, to refute what might occur to the ignorant that He is associated only with the higher realms and not the lower. Hence, it is said: Yunus’s ascension was in the belly of the whale, just as our Prophet’s ascension was in the expanse of the heaven. Proximity, for each, is in the realm of balance, as He informed about His closeness to all His servants with His saying: “And We are closer to him than his jugular vein” [Qaf: 16]. The difference lies in the spiritual proximity through divine honor, including the proximity of obligatory acts and supererogatory acts, as established in its place. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)
Note 3
(3) Tirmidhi’s statement: This indicates that his saying “he would reach Allah” requires the aforementioned interpretation, and his saying “above the Throne He established Himself” requires entrusting its knowledge to Allah, the Exalted, and refraining from interpreting it. As mentioned earlier, some matters contradict the apparent meaning and require interpretation, while others should not be delved into. (As stated in Al-Mirqat)
Note 1
(۱) قوله: إذا أتى: أي مر وقوله: إلى قوم لا يشكرونه، أي بل يكفرونه حيث ينسبون المطر إلى اقتران النجوم وافتراقها وغروبها وطلوعها، ويقولون: مطرنا بنوء كذا. وقوله: ولا يدعونه أي لا يذكرون الله، ولا يطلبون منه، ولا يعبدونه، بل يعبدون الأصنام، وهو بعميم كرمه يرزقهم، ويعافيهم كسائر الأنام وباقي الأنعام. وقوله: «الرفيع هو اسم لسماء الدنيا. وقوله: موج مكفوف أي ممنوع من الاسترسال، والمعنى إن الله حفظها عن السقوط على الأرض، وهي معلقة بلا عمد كالموج المكفوف. التقطته من المرقاة».