On how Allāh Speaks through Revelation: Kitab al-Tawhid (The Book on Monotheism) by Abu Bakr b. Khuzaymah

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The speech of Our Lord is not like the speech of His creatures. The speech of Allāh is continuous. There are no pauses in His speech or any breaks as is characteristic of the speech of humans. Human speech involves pauses and breaks because they must breathe. It also involves dialogue (which requires that one party halts to listen to the other). They also suffer from tiredness. Allāh is, however, pure of all these blemishes and He is the Greatest and the Mighty.

207. (1) ᶜAlī b. al-Ḥusayn b. Ibrāhīm b. Al-Ḥurr → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → al-Aᶜmash → Muslim b. Ṣabīḥ → Masrūq → ᶜAbd Allāh → the Prophet:

When Allāh speaks through revelation, the dwellers of the heaven hear a loud clatter like the one produced by a chain when pulled through the rocks. They fall unconscious. They remain in this state till Gabriel comes to them. When he comes to them, they are relieved. Then they say: “O Gabriel: What did our Lord say?” He tells them: “He says the truth (al-ḥaqq).” The Prophet said that they repeat: “al-ḥaqq, al-ḥaqq (the truth, the truth).”

208. (2) Abū Mūsā b. Junādah → Abū Muᶜāwiyah → al-Aᶜmash → Muslim (Ibn Ṣabīḥ) → Masrūq → ᶜAbd Allāh:

When Allāh speaks through revelation, the dwellers of the heaven hear a clatter like the one created by pulling a chain on the rock (al-ṣafā). They fall unconscious. They remain in this state until Gabriel gets to them. When he reaches them, he removes their fear. They say: “O Gabriel, what did our Lord say?” He tells them: “He says the truth (al-ḥaqq).” Muslim used the following words: “So Gabriel says that (Allah says:) al-ḥaqq and they too repeat al-ḥaqq al-ḥaqq.”

209. (3) Muhammad b. Bashshār (Bundār) → Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → Shuᶜbah and also Bishr b. Khālid → Muhammad → Shuᶜbah → Sulaymān:

I heard Abū al-Ḍaḥā narrate from Masrūq who narrated from ᶜAbd Allāh that he said:

When Allāh speaks through revelation, the habitants of heaven hear a rattling sound like the one created by a metallic chain on the rocks. They think that it relates to the Last Judgment (al-sāᶜah). They become dreadful. When they retrieve their senses, they say: “What did your Lord say?” “The others say: “(He has uttered) the Truth (al-ḥaq). He is the Greatest and the Mightiest.”

This is the ḥadīth of Muhammad b. Ṣabīḥ. Bundār said that Abū Ḍuḥā narrated that Masrūq narrated from ‘ᶜAbd Allāh who said:

When Allāh speaks through revelation, the habitants of heaven hear a chain pulled on a hard rock. Thus, they become dreadful. They think that it is related to the Day of Judgment (al-sāᶜah). When the terror is removed from their hearts, they call out: “What did your Lord say?” The others respond: “The Truth (al-ḥaqq). He is the Most High, the Greatest.”

….. (4) Abū Mūsā → Mūsā b. Ismāᶜīl → Sufyān → Manṣūr → Abū Ḍuḥā → Masrūq:

ᶜAbd Allāh was asked about the implication of the verse: “When terror is removed from their hearts” (Q 34:23), he said: “When Allāh speaks through revelation, the habitants of the heaven hear the sound of a chain pulled on a rock.

Abū Mūsā says that he narrated what has been reported by Abū Muᶜāwiyah.

210. (5) ᶜAbd Allāh b. Saᶜīd al-Ashajj → Ibn Abī Numayr → al-Aᶜmash → Muslim → Masrūq → ᶜAbd Allāh:

When Allāh Almighty speaks through revelation, the dwellers of the heaven hear the sound of a chain as it is pulled on a hard rock. They fall unconscious because of that and lie prostrating. When they come to know that it is a Divine revelation, their terror is removed. He said: “Their souls are then returned to them.” Then the dwellers of the heaven ask each other: “What did your Lord say?” The others respond: “That which is true and just (al-ḥaqq). He is the Most High the Most Great.”

211. (6) Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → al-Aᶜmash → Abū Ḍuḥā → Masrūq → ᶜAbd Allāh:

When Allāh Almighty speaks through revelation, the habitants of heaven hear a rattling sound like the one created by a metallic chain on the rocks. They lie prostrating. Then they raise their heads and say: “What is it that your Lord commanded?” The others say: “That which is true and just (al-ḥaqq). He is the Most High, the Most Great.”

212. (7) ᶜAbd al-Jabbār b. al-ᶜUlāᵓ and Saᶜīd b. ᶜAbd al-Raḥmān al-Makhzūmī → Sufyān → ᶜAmr (Ibn Dīnār) → ᶜIkramah → Abū Hurayrah (ascribing it to the Prophet).

Al-Makhzūmī stated in his report that the Prophet said:

When Allāh decides on a matter on the heaven, the angels flap their wings in submission to His words. [It creates sounds] like a chain on a rock. When their terror is removed from their hearts they say: “What did your Lord say? “The others respond: “He said the truth (al-ḥaqq). He is the Most High, the Greatest.” This is overheard by the eavesdroppers who are piled one after the other this way. Sufyān demonstrated this by putting his fingers one above the other. Sometimes a star gets the eavesdropper and burns it. Sometimes no star can catch the eavesdropper. In this case the eavesdropper conveys what he hears to the one beneath him. All in the chain convey the message to the one lower than him until the news is put in the mouth of a magician, or the kāḥin who mixes it with whatever lies he intends to mix with it and conveys to the people on earth. They then tell each other: “Such and such news we heard from such and such person and this we find true.” The hearers too confirm the news taken from the heavens.

This corresponds to the ḥadīth of ᶜAbd al-Jabbār except that he used the words: “When a matter is decided on the heaven (idhā quḍiya al-amr fī al-samāᵓ). Makhzūmī said that they ask: “What did your Lord say?” The others respond: “He said what is true (al-ḥaqq).” He also said: “The eavesdroppers stand one over the other. They hear the word and throw it towards the one beneath them. A star (shihāb) catches it and delivers it to the sorcerer or a kāhin who mingles hundreds of lies with it. He then claims did not he say on that specific day that such and such would happen. This way he seeks to establish veracity of his claims.”

Abū Bakr said: I have recorded the report of Ibn ᶜAbbās narrated by some individuals from among the (anṣār) which says: “We were with the Prophet when a star was thrown…” The whole ḥadīth.

And the report of Saᶜīd b. Jubayr which he narrated on the authority of Ibn ᶜAbbās has been included in Kitāb al-Mutawakkil.

213. (8) Muhammad b. Bashshār → Ibn Abī ᶜAdī → Dāwūd b. Abī Hind → al-Shaᶜbī:

When something happens near the throne [of Allah] the angels hear a sound like the one created by a chain. They lose consciousness. When they come to their senses, they say: “What is your Lord saying?” They say: “Whatever He wishes is the truth. He is the Greatest, the Mightiest.”

….. (9) Salm b. Junādah → Wakīᶜ → Salamah b. Nabīṭ → al-Ḍaḥḥāk:

When Allāh says something through revelation, the dwellers of heaven hear a clatter created by a happening on the hard rocks.

….. (10) Salm → Wakīᶜ → Yazīd b. Ibrāhīm:

I heard al-Ḥasan say: “When the fear is removed from their hearts their hearts light up.”