The‬‬ Remembrance of Allah’s Greatness, Mighty be His Glory

Zaynab, the squint-eyed perfume lady, came to the wives of the Messenger of Allah (SA) and his daughters. The Messenger of Allah (SA) entered when she was with them. So he (SA) said to her, “When you visit us our houses are filled with perfume.” Hence, she replied, “Your house is the most pleasant due to your own scent, O Messenger of Allah.” He (SA) said: “When you sell, then be good. However, do not engage in deceptive marketing for that is not a good practice for ensuring wealth.” She responded, “I did no come with something to sell. Verily, I came to ask you about ht Greatness of Allah.” Thus, he (SA) said: “Glory be to Allah! Let me share His Greatness with you.” The reporter says: then he (SA) continued, Verily, the planet earth and everything it contains is like a ring in the vastness of the desert to the one which is below it. The earth and the one below it, and everything they contain, are like a ring in the vastness of the desert to the one that is below them. This how they are until it reaches the seventh one. Then he recited this verse: Allah is He who created seven heavens, and the Earth the like of them. The seven heavens and what they contain are on the back of a rooster like a ring in the open desert. The rooster has two wings; one in the East and the other in the West, and its feet are on the borderline. The seven heavens, the rooster, and whatever they contain, are on a rock like a ring in the open desert. The seven heavens, the rooster, the rock and whatever is in them, are on the back of a fish like a ring in the open desert. The seven heavens, the rooster, the rock, and the fish are in a dark ocean like a ring in the vast desert. The seven heavens, the rooster, the rock, the fish, and the dark ocean are in the air like a ring in the open desert. The seven heave ns, the rooster, the rock, the fish, the dark ocean, and the air are beneath the ground like a ring in the open desert. Then he (SA) recited this verse: His is what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and what is between them two, and what is beneath the ground. Then the tradition stopped. The seven heavens, the rooster, the rock, the fish, the dark ocean, the air, the ground, and whatever is in them are in heaven like a ring in the open desert. All of these things, the heaven of this world, and whatever is in them, are like a ring in the open desert. All of these things and the two heavens are like a ring in the open desert compared to the third heaven. The third heaven and whatever is in it is like a ring in the open desert compared to the fourth heaven, and so on until the seventh heaven. These seven heavens and whatever is in them are like a ring in the open desert compared to the ocean which covers the earth. The seven heavens, and the ocean which covers the earth, are like a ring in the open desert compared to the mountain. Then he (AS) read this verse: And He sends down from heavens (clouds like) mountains laden with hail. These seven heavens, the covered ocean and the mountain are like a ring in the open desert compared to the veils of light. There are seventy thousand of these blinding veils light. The seven heavens, the covered oceans, the mountains, and the veils are like a ring in the open-spaced desert in comparison to the air, in which the hearts are fervent. Then he (AS) read this verse His Throne extends over the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of them both tires Him not, and He is the Most High, the Great. The seven heavens, the covered oceans, the mountains, the veils, the air, and the Throne are like a ring in the open desert compared to the Empyrean. Then he (AS) read this verse: The Most Compassionate Allah is Firm on the Empyrean. The angels cannot carry it except with the statement “there is no god but Allah” and “there is no power and no strength save in Allah.”

I asked Abu Ja`far al-Baqir (AS) about the Word of the Mighty and High: He (AS) said: O Jabir! After Allah, the Mighty and High, destroys this creation, placing the people of Paradise in Paradise, and the people of Hell in Hell, He will recreate another world different from this one without men or women, to serve Him and profess His Unity. He will create for them an earth different form this one. And He will create for them a firmament different from the earth to give them shade. Perhaps you think that Allah only created this world, and that Allah has not created other beings than you. No, certainly not. Allah has created millions of worlds, and millions of human creations.‬‬ ‫‪And you re the last of those worlds, and the last of those beings.‬‬ ‫‪ 3. Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Qittan said: Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Zakariyya said: Bakr ibn `Abd‬‬ ‫‪Allah ibn Hubayb said, on the authority of Tamim ibn Buhlul, on the authority of Nasr ibn‬‬ ‫‪Muzahim al-Minqari, on the authority of `Amr ibn Sa`d, on the authority of Abu Mikhnaf Lut ibn‬‬ ‫‪Yahya, on the authority of Abu Mansur, on the authority of Zayd ibn Wahab that‬‬ The Commander of the Faithful `Ali ibn Abu Talib was asked about the Omnipotence of Allah, Exalted and Glorified be He. Therefore, he (AS) stood up, delivered a sermon praising and exalting Allah. He then said: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has created angels that are so enormous that they cannot fly down to the earth due to the sheer size of their numerous wings. Among them is an angel that is so huge that even if jinn and humankind worked together to describe him, they would be unable to do so due to the distance between its joints and the beauty of its composed image. How can one be described which has seven hundred years of distance between its shoulders and its earlobes? Among them is one who obstructs the horizon with one of its many wings without the complete enormity of its body. Among them is one who is so tall that the heavens merely reach his waist. And among them is one whose feet float in the atmosphere and its knees reach the earth. There is also an angel who is so huge that all of the water on earth would fit in the cavity of his thumb. There is also one who is so hug that if ships were cast into the tears of its eyes, they could sail for the rest of eternity. Blessed is Allah, the Best of the Creators. He (AS) was questioned about the veils, so he answered, The first of the veils are seven in number. The thickness of each veil is five hundred years of travel. And the distance between the two veils is the distance traveled in five hundred years. The third veil is composed of seventy veils. Between each veil is the distance traveled in five hundred years. The length of each veil is five hundred years of travel. There are seventy thousand angels acting as the gatekeepers for every veil. The strength of each one of these angels is equal to the strength of all the jinn and men. They are the source of darkness, light, fire, smoke, clouds, lightning, rain, thunder, glow, sand, mountain, dust, water and all rivers. There are different veils. The thickness of each one of these veils is the distance traveled over the course of seventy thousand years. Then there are the Canopies of Glory [jalal], and there are seventy such canopies. In each canopy there are seventy angels. Between each canopy is the distance traveled during five hundred years. Then there is the Canopy of Mighty [`izz]; then the Canopy of Pride [kibriya]; then the canopy of Greatness [`azamah]; then the Canopy of Sacredness [qudus]; then the Canopy of Power [jabarut]; and then the Canopy of Pride [fakhr]. Then is the white light, then the Canopy of Oneness [wahdaniyah], which spans the distance traveled over seventy thousand years into seventy thousand years; and then there is the Most Sublime Veil. Hence, his (AS) speech ended and he became silent. Therefore, `Umar said to him (AS), “I do not want to remain for a day when I do not see you, O Father of al-Hasan.”

Prophet (SA) said: Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has create a rooster whose feet are on the borderline of the lowly seventh earth, while its head is in the Empyrean, and its neck is twisted below the Empyrean. It is an angel among the angels of Allah, the Mighty and High. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has placed its feet at the lowest level of the seventh earth. It crosses the earths, to the end of the earths, until it comes out at the horizon of heaven. Then it passes the horizon until its first visible part reaches the Empyrean, while it says: “Glory be to You, my Lord.” Verily, this rooster has two wings. If it would spread them out, they would cross both the East and the West. When it is the end of the night, it spreads its two wings, shakes them, and it calls out with the glorification that ”Glory be to Allah, the Sovereign, the Most Holy. Glory be to the Great, the Supreme Being [al-mut`al], the Most Holy. There is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent.” When it says so then all the roosters of the earth glorify, spread their wings, and begin to crow. And when that rooster becomes still then the rooster on the earth become still. At the time of dawn, it spreads its two wings, which cross the East and the West, and shakes them, and calls out with the glorification: “Glory be to Allah, the Great. Glory be to Allah, the Honorable, the Subduer. Glory be to Allah, the Possessor of the Glorious Empyrean. Glory be to Allah, the Lord of the Lofty Empyrean.” When it does that then all the roosters of the earth do their glorification. Therefore, it wakes the rooster of the earth, who awake and answer its glorification of Allah, the Mighty and High. The rooster ahs the purest white feathers I have ever seen. Below its white feathers it has the darkest green fuzz that I have ever seen. I am still longing to look at the feathers of that rooster.

Prophet (SA) said: Verily, among the angels of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, is an angel whose upper half is composed of fire, while its lower half is composed of ice. Neither does the fire melt ice, nor does the ice extinguish the fire. He stands calling with his high-pitched voice: “Glory be to Allah, who withholds the heat of this fire so that it does not melt this ice; and Glory be to Allah who withholds the coldness of this ice so that it does not extinguish this fire. O Allah! O Combiner of the Ice and fire! Unite the hearts of Your Believing Servants in Your Obedience.”

Prophet (SA) said: Verily, among the angels of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, are angels who glorify Allah, the Mighty and High, with the entirety of their beings, praising Him in every direction with different voices. They do not lift their heads to heaven, nor do they lower them to their feet from crying and fear of Allah, the Mighty and High.

I was holding the hand of the Prophet (SA) and we were both walking. We were looking at the sun and until it set, So I asked, “O Messenger of Allah! Where does it set?” [(Editor’s footnote: This traditionis strange (gharib). As they do not agree with scientific fact, the words that follow cannot be attributed to the Prophet (SA)] He (SA) replied, The sun sets in the sky then it rises from the sky to another sky, until it rises to the seventh highest sky, which is below the Empyrean. Then, the sun prostrates, and the angels which are entrusted with it prostrate themselves along with it. At this point, the sun says: “O my Lord! Do you command me to rise from the West or from my place of rising (the East)?” According to the Word of the Exalted: Abd the sun runs onto a term appointed for it; that is the ordinance of the Mighty, the Knowing. What He means is that He, the Mighty Lord, knows the Realm He has created. He said: Then Jibra`il comes to the sun with a dress which glows with the Light of the Empyrean and fixes the times of day, making them lengthy during the summer, short during the winter, and intermediate length during the call and spring. He said: Thus, the sun wears that dress like anyone of you wear your dress, then it brightens up with it the horizon of the heaven until it rises from the place of rising. The Prophet (SA) said: It is as if I am looking at it, and it is confined for three nights, then it dresses with the glow, and is commanded to rise from the West. That is the Word of the Mighty and High: When the sun is covered, and when the starts darken. The moon is similar in its place of rising, and its trajectory in the horizon of heaven. Its setting is it is rising to the seventh heaven. It prostrates below the Empyrean then Jibra’il comes to it with a dress of light from the Throne. According to the Word of the Mighty and High He made the sun a shinng brightness and the moon a light. Abu Dharr (RA) says: “I then withdrew with the Messenger of Allah (SA) and we prayed the Maghrib prayers.

“Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has created an angel who is so huge that it would take a fluttering bird five hundred years to fly from its earlobe to its neck.”

I asked Abu `Abd Allah al-Sadiq (AS). “Are there oceans in heaven?” He replied, Yes. My father related to me, on the authority of his father, and he on the authority of his grandfather (AS) that the Messenger of Allah (SA) said: Verily, in the seven heavens there are oceans, the depths of which are like the distance traveled over the course of five hundred years. In them are angels who have been standing in service since they were created by Allah, the Mighty and High. The water barely reaches their knees. There is not an angel among them but that he has fourteen hundred wings. On each wing, there are four faces. On each face there are four tongues. And there is no a single wing or a single tongue or a single mouth but this it glorifies Allah, the Mighty and High, with a glorification that does not resemble in any way the prayers of the others.

“O Commander of the Faithful! By Allah, verily there is a verse in the Book of Allah, the Mighty and High, that has destroyed my heart, making me doubt my religion.” `Ali (AS) said to him, “May your mother be bereaved of you and be deprived of you! What is that verse?” He replied, “The Word of Allah, the Exalted: The birds with expanded wings, each knows its own prayer, and its own glorification.” Imam `Ali (AS) responded, O son of al-Kawwa’! Verily, Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has created angels in different shapes. There is an angel of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, in the shape of a rooster, which is hoarse and gray. Its talons are in the seventh lowly earth and its dual comb is below the Empyrean. It has two wings; one in the East and the other in the West. One is of fire and the other is of ice. When the time of prayer comes, it stands on its talons and raises its neck from below the Empyrean, and then it flaps its two wings like the roosters in your houses do. Neither the one that is from fire melts the ice, nor does the one form the ice put out the fire. At that point it calls: I bear witness that there is no got but Allah, He Alone, there is no associate with Him; and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Master of the Prophets and his successor is the Master of the Successors and that Allah is the Most Praised, the Most Holy, Lord of the Angels and the Spirit (Ruh). He said: Then the roosters in your homes flap their wings and answer him in his call, and that is the Word of the Exalted: The birds with expanded wings, each knows its own prayer and its own glorification” from the roosters in the earth.

“Verily, half of the angels of Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, are in cold and half are in fire. They say: `O Combiner of Hot and Cold, keep our hearts firm in Your Obedience.’” The Compiler of this book says: Allah willing, I will publish the traditions which I have transmitted regarding remembering the Greatness of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, in the book `al-`Azamat.’