Tarikh (al-Tabari) 28
Creation of the Throne, the Footstool, and the Preserved Tablet
وَأَمَّا الْكُرْسِيُّ: فَرَوَى ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ مِنْ طَرِيقِ جُوَيْبِرٍ وَهُوَ ضَعِيفٌ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ الْبَصْرِيِّ أَنَّهُ كَانَ يَقُولُ: الْكُرْسِيُّ هُوَ الْعَرْشُ. وَهَذَا لَا يَصِحُّ عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بَلِ الصَّحِيحُ عَنْهُ وَعَنْ غَيْرِهِ مِنَ الصَّحَابَةِ وَالتَّابِعِينَ أَنَّ الْكُرْسِيَّ غَيْرُ الْعَرْشِ، وَعَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ، وَسَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ أَنَّهُمَا قَالَا فِي قَوْلِهِ تَعَالَى: وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ [ الْبَقَرَةِ: 255 ]. أَيْ عِلْمُهُ، وَالْمَحْفُوظُ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ كَمَا رَوَاهُ الْحَاكِمُ فِي مُسْتَدْرَكِهِ، وَقَالَ: إِنَّهُ عَلَى شَرْطِ الشَّيْخَيْنِ، وَلَمْ يُخَرِّجَاهُ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: الْكُرْسِيُّ مَوْضِعُ الْقَدَمَيْنِ، وَالْعَرْشُ لَا يُقَدِّرُ قَدْرَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ، وَقَالَ السُّدِّيُّ عَنْ أَبِي مَالِكٍ: الْكُرْسِيُّ تَحْتَ الْعَرْشِ، وَقَالَ السُّدِّيُّ: السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ فِي جَوْفِ الْكُرْسِيِّ، وَالْكُرْسِيُّ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ الْعَرْشِ. وَرَوَى ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ، وَابْنُ أَبِي حَاتِمٍ مِنْ طَرِيقِ الضَّحَّاكِ، عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: لَوْ أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ السَّبْعَ وَالْأَرَضِينَ السَّبْعَ بُسِطْنَ، ثُمَّ وُصِلْنَ بَعْضُهُنَّ إِلَى بَعْضٍ مَا كُنَّ فِي سَعَةِ الْكُرْسِيِّ إِلَّا بِمَنْزِلَةِ الْحَلْقَةِ فِي الْمَفَازَةِ، وقَالَ الْحَافِظُ أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ مَرْدَوَيْهِ بسنده، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ الْغِفَارِيِّ أَنَّهُ سَأَلَ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنِ الْكُرْسِيِّ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ مَا السَّمَاوَاتُ السَّبْعُ وَالْأَرَضُونَ السَّبْعُ عِنْدَ الْكُرْسِيِّ إِلَّا كَحَلْقَةٍ مُلْقَاةٍ بِأَرْضٍ فَلَاةٍ، وَإِنَّ فَضْلَ الْعَرْشِ عَلَى الْكُرْسِيِّ كَفَضْلِ الْفَلَاةِ عَلَى تِلْكَ الْحَلْقَةِ. وَقَالَ ابْنُ جَرِيرٍ فِي تَارِيخِهِ بسنده عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ قَالَ: سُئِلَ ابْنُ عَبَّاسٍ عَنْ قَوْلِهِ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ: وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ [ هُودٍ: 7 ]. عَلَى أَيِّ شَيْءٍ كَانَ الْمَاءُ ؟ قَالَ: عَلَى مَتْنِ الرِّيحِ قَالَ: وَالسَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرَضُونَ وَكُلُّ مَا فِيهِنَّ مِنْ شَيْءٍ تُحِيطُ بِهَا الْبِحَارُ، وَيُحِيطُ بِذَلِكَ كُلِّهِ الْهَيْكَلُ، وَيُحِيطُ بِالْهَيْكَلِ فِيمَا قِيلَ الْكُرْسِيُّ. وَرَوَى عَنْ وَهْبِ بْنِ مُنَبِّهٍ نَحْوَهُ، وَفَسَّرَ وَهْبٌ الْهَيْكَلَ فَقَالَ: شَيْءٌ مِنْ أَطْرَافِ السَّمَاوَاتِ مُحْدِقٌ بِالْأَرَضِينَ وَالْبِحَارِ كَأَطْنَابِ الْفُسْطَاطِ. وَقَدْ زَعَمَ بَعْضُ مَنْ يَنْتَسِبُ إِلَى عِلْمِ الْهَيْئَةِ أَنَّ الْكُرْسِيَّ عِبَارَةٌ عَنِ الْفَلَكِ الثَّامِنِ الَّذِي يُسَمُّونَهُ فَلَكَ الْكَوَاكِبِ الثَّوَابِتِ، وَفِيمَا زَعَمُوهُ نَظَرٌ ; لِأَنَّهُ قَدْ ثَبَتَ أَنَّهُ أَعْظَمُ مِنَ السَّمَاوَاتِ السَّبْعِ بِشَيْءٍ كَثِيرٍ، كَمَا وَرَدَ بِهِ الْحَدِيثُ الْمُتَقَدِّمُ أَنَّ نِسْبَتَهَا إِلَيْهِ كَنِسْبَةِ حَلْقَةٍ مُلْقَاةٍ بِأَرْضٍ فَلَاةٍ، وَهَذَا لَيْسَ نِسْبَةَ فَلَكٍ إِلَى فَلَكٍ، فَإِنْ قَالَ قَائِلُهُمْ: نَحْنُ نَعْتَرِفُ بِذَلِكَ وَنُسَمِّيهِ مَعَ ذَلِكَ فَلَكًا فَنَقُولُ الْكُرْسِيُّ لَيْسَ فِي اللُّغَةِ عِبَارَةً عَنِ الْفَلَكِ، وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ كَمَا قَالَ غَيْرُ وَاحِدٍ مِنَ السَّلَفِ: إِنَّ الْكُرْسِيَّ بَيْنَ يَدَيِ الْعَرْشِ كَالْمِرَقَاةِ إِلَيْهِ. وَمِثْلُ هَذَا لَا يَكُونُ فَلَكًا. وَمَنْ زَعَمَ مِنْهُمْ أَنَّ الْكَوَاكِبَ الثَّوَابِتَ مُرَصَّعَةٌ فِيهِ فَقَدْ قَالَ مَا لَا يَعْلَمُ، وَلَا دَلِيلَ لَهُمْ عَلَيْهِ هَذَا مَعَ اخْتِلَافِهِمْ فِي ذَلِكَ أَيْضًا كَمَا هُوَ مُقَرَّرٌ فِي كُتُبِهِمْ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ.
Translation
✧ As for the Kursī: Ibn Jarīr narrated via the route of Juwaybir—who is weak—from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he used to say: The Kursī is the Throne. This is not authentic from al-Ḥasan; rather, what is authentic from him and from others among the Companions and Successors is that the Kursī is other than the Throne. From Ibn ʿAbbās and Saʿīd b. Jubayr, they said regarding His saying, Exalted be He: “His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth” [al-Baqarah: 255], meaning His knowledge. The preserved report from Ibn ʿAbbās, as narrated by al-Ḥākim in his Mustadrak—and he said it meets the condition of the two Shaykhs, though they did not include it—is that he said: The Kursī is the place of the two feet, and the Throne—none can estimate its measure except Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Al-Suddī said, from Abū Mālik: The Kursī is beneath the Throne. Al-Suddī said: The heavens and the earth are within the hollow of the Kursī, and the Kursī is before the Throne. Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated via the route of al-Ḍaḥḥāk from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: If the seven heavens and the seven earths were spread out and then joined one to another, they would not be in the expanse of the Kursī except like a ring in a desert. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr b. Mardawayh narrated with his chain from Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī that he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the Kursī, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “By the One in whose hand is my soul, the seven heavens and the seven earths compared to the Kursī are but like a ring cast in a vast land, and the excellence of the Throne over the Kursī is like the excellence of the vast land over that ring.” Ibn Jarīr said in his Tārīkh with his chain from Saʿīd b. Jubayr: Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about His saying, Mighty and Majestic: “And His Throne was upon the water” [Hūd: 7]—upon what was the water? He said: Upon the back of the wind. He said: The heavens and the earths and everything in them are surrounded by the seas, and surrounding all of that is the haykal, and surrounding the haykal, as it is said, is the Kursī. He narrated similar from Wahb b. Munabbih, and Wahb explained the haykal, saying: It is something at the edges of the heavens encompassing the earths and the seas, like the ropes of a tent. Some of those who ascribe themselves to the science of astronomy have claimed that the Kursī is an expression for the eighth celestial sphere, which they call the sphere of the fixed stars. There is scrutiny in what they claim, because it has been established that it is greater than the seven heavens by a great amount, as mentioned in the preceding ḥadīth that their proportion to it is like a ring cast in a vast land—and this is not the proportion of one sphere to another sphere. If one of them says: We acknowledge that and still call it a sphere, we say: The Kursī in the language is not an expression for a sphere. Rather, it is as more than one of the Salaf said: The Kursī is before the Throne like a step leading up to it. Such a thing would not be a sphere. And whoever among them claims that the fixed stars are studded in it has said what he does not know, and they have no proof for it, especially given their differences about that as established in their books. And Allah knows best.
Grades by grader
No grade is recorded for this wording.