The Meaning of Ibn al-Mubarak's Statement: Yes, with a Limit
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It was reported from Ibn al-Mubarak that when he was asked, "How do we know our Lord?" he said, "We know Him by the fact that He rose above His Throne, above His heavens." He was then asked, "With a limit?" He said, "Yes, with a limit." What is the difference between the limit that Ibn Sabah denied and the limit that Ibn al-Mubarak affirmed?
Answer:
Ibn al-Mubarak never intends a bad meaning, for he is one of the imams of the Salaf. His intention regarding the limit is the reality, meaning the reality that He rose above the Throne in reality, or is it figurative? This is the meaning of "with a limit," meaning in reality, He rose above the Throne in reality, not figuratively.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. It was reported from Ibn al-Mubarak that when he was asked, "How do we know our Lord?" he said, "We know Him by the fact that He rose above His Throne, above His heavens." He was then asked, "With a limit?" He said, "Yes, with a limit." What is the difference between the limit that Ibn Sabah denied and the limit that Ibn al-Mubarak affirmed?
Answer:
Ibn al-Mubarak never intends a bad meaning, for he is one of the imams of the Salaf. His intention regarding the limit is the reality, meaning the reality that He rose above the Throne in reality, or is it figurative? This is the meaning of "with a limit," meaning in reality, He rose above the Throne in reality, not figuratively.
Source
شرح لمعة الاعتقاد [ صالح الفوزان ]، بداية من قوله : وما أشكل من ذلك وجب إثباته لفظا — islamhouse.com (1:00:31)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.