The Disagreement on the Precedence of the Throne or the Pen

Question:
To the feet of the region, may Allah preserve the Shaykh. Which is more truthful: the creation of the Throne or the creation?

Answer:
This is a matter in which the scholars have differed: is the Throne greater or is the Pen greater? The scholar Ibn al-Qayyim says in his *al-Nuniyyah*: “People differ regarding the Pen by which the Decree was written by the Judging God: was it before the Throne or after it?” There are two opinions according to Abu al-‘Ala’ al-Hamadhani, and the truth is that the Throne was before it, because at the time of writing there were no pillars. So the correct view is that the Throne was before the creation of the Pen. Yes. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that Allah wrote the decrees of creation fifty thousand years before He created the heavens and the earth, and His Throne was over the water. This indicates that the Throne was written, and that it was before the Pen and before the writing.