The First of Created Things: The Throne or the Pen

Question:
Honorable Shaykh, is the Throne the first of creation or the Pen? And how do you reconcile Allah’s saying with the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): “Except that when Allah created the Pen, He said to it: Write. He said to it: Write.”

Answer:
It is not that the Pen was the first thing Allah created and He was silent; rather, He said, “The first thing Allah created was the Pen, and He said to it: Write.” So the result is that the disagreement has preceded you. Ibn al-Qayyim says in *al-Nuniyyah*: “People differ regarding the Pen with which the decree was written by the Judge: was it before the Throne or after it?” There are two opinions according to Abu ‘Abd al-Hamidan. The truth is that the Throne was before it, because at the time of the writing it had pillars, pointing to the hadith that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) His Throne was upon the water. Yes, so his saying, “And His Throne was upon the water,” indicates that it was before the writing and before the existence of the Pen. Yes.