When we look at the night sky, we cannot help but wonder at the vastness of the sky, the sun, the moon, our Milky Way galaxy and millions of other galaxies that make up our universe. When we were kids, we often wondered, if we were to count, how many stars are out there? The night sky is amazing as it opens up the doors for us, to look beyond us, to something that is far greater, and far more mysterious and enigmatic.
Scientists estimate that there are about two trillion galaxies in the observable universe and yet that’s only a minuscule part of what is out there waiting to be discovered. With all of our scientific advancements and cutting edge technologies, we have only been able to scratch a tiny bit of the surface of the vast cosmic realm. And it is simply impossible to know the scale of our universe. How much of it is still waiting to be discovered? Subhan Allah, we do not know!
Further mind-blowing is the fact that the what we call as our universe is only the lowest and the first of seven heavens. Yes, Quran tells us that there are seven heavens and we are only discovering the first: the only one that is accessible to us.
In Surah Saffat, verse 6, Allah swt says:
إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا بِزِينَةٍ ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ
Verily, We have decorated the nearest sky with an adornment, the stars
The nearest heaven, the first of seven, which Quran calls as “ ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا “, is where we see the stars, the planets, our Milky Way and all the other galaxies. Have you ever wondered, how much of the first heaven have we discovered yet?
The observable universe, to our current knowledge is 93 billion light years across! Subhan Allah, can you imagine how big that is? Light takes about 8 minutes to reach us from the sun, which is about 91 million miles away. Think how far light can travel in one year: it is 5.88 trillion miles. Then multiply it by 93 billion years of travel, 46 billion years in each direction if we were to visualize ourselves in the middle of a circle. The number comes to 564 quintillion miles, that is a number with 18 zeros in it! This is how far we can see and yet, we do not think that we have traversed to the edge of our universe. We believe we have only seen a tiny bit of an amazingly vast universe, the scale of which is simply impossible to know.
Beyond the first heaven, “ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا “, there are six more. Quran talks about a total of seven heavens, سَبْعَ سَمَـٰوَٰتٍۢ, in several places. As an example, in Surah Baqarah, verse 29, Allah (swt) says:
هُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًۭا ثُمَّ ٱسْتَوَىٰٓ إِلَى ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَسَوَّىٰهُنَّ سَبْعَ سَمَـٰوَٰتٍۢ ۚ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌۭ
It is He who created for you all that the earth contains; then He turned to the heavens and made them seven skies – and He is the knower of all things.
Quran also informs us that these seven heavens are layered upon each other, as we learn from Surah Mulk, verse 3:
ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَـٰوَٰتٍۢ طِبَاقًا ۖ مَّا تَرَىٰ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ مِن تَفَـٰوُتٍۢ ۖ فَٱرْجِعِ ٱلْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَىٰ مِن فُطُورٍۢ
He is the One Who created seven heavens, one above the other. You will never see any imperfection in the creation of the Most Compassionate. So look again: do you see any flaws?
The word ” طِبَاقا ” means “layers”. One on top of the other, or one encapsulating the other if its a closed surface. So if the first heaven, to our current estimates, is 93 billion light years across, how big is the next, and the next? Though Quran doesn’t say much about this, it is something that is discussed in hadith literature.
It is reported on the authority of Al-‘Abbas (ra) that Allah’s Messenger (saw) said:
“Do you know what is the distance between the heaven and the earth?” We said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “The distance between them is five hundred years and the distance between one heaven and the next is five hundred years and the dimension of each heaven would take five hundred years to travel and there is a sea between the seventh heaven and the `Arsh which has between its lowest and highest ends the distance equvalent to that between the heavens and the earth. And Allah , Most High, is above that and nothing is withheld from Him of the deeds of the sons of Adam.”
(Narrated by Abu Dawood and others)
A similar narration is mentioned in many books including Kitab-at-Tauheed¹ (pg 189–190) and Jami Thirmidhi² (no 3298). On the authority of Ibn Mas’ood (ra) it is reported that the prophet (saw) said:
“Between the lowest heaven and the next is the distance of five hundred years and between each of the seven heavens is the distance of five hundred years and the distance between the seventh heaven and the Kursi is also five hundred years and between the Kursi and the water is also five hundred years and the `Arsh is above the water and Allah is above the `Arsh and nothing is hidden from Allah of your deeds.”
These narrations, along with the aforementioned verses of Quran, give us a mind-boggling visual of the vastness of seven heavens as being layered over each other, with a distance of 500 years between each. But we do not know what 500 years actually mean? Is it just an expression signifying a huge distance or is it an actual number, in which case one may wonder if it means 500 light years? As believers we leave that to Allah swt as one of the things that He has not revealed to us for reasons that He knows best. What the narrations do reveal clearly is that beyond the seven heavens lies the Kursi of Allah swt. And beyond that the Arsh itself and Allah swt istawa over His Arsh (in a manner known only to Him).
The Kursi and Arsh of Allah (swt) are from the matters of the unseen. We have no knowledge of what they look like. But Allah (swt) does indicate to us the size of His Kursi in Ayat-ul-kursi, where Allah (swt) says:
وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ
His Kursi (Chair) extends over the Heavens and the Earth
Subhan Allah! The Kursi is so huge that its bigger than the seven heavens and the earth combined.
That leaves us to wonder about the Arsh of Allah (swt). From these two narrations, it seems clear that the Arsh is where Allah (swt) is. It must be an unimaginably magnificent creation. In Quran, Allah (swt) himself describes His Arsh in many verses, as a place of might, magnificence, glory and nobility.
In Surah Buruj, verse 15, Allah (swt) says
ذُو ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْمَجِيدُ
Lord of the Throne of Glory,
In surah Mu’minun, verse 116 Allah (swt) describes His Arsh as ٱلْكَرِيمِ :
فَتَعَـٰلَى ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمَلِكُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۖ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْكَرِيمِ
Exalted is Allah, the True King! There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him, the Lord of the Honourable Throne.
In surah Naml, verse 26, He calls Himself as the Rabb of the Mighty Arsh, رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ :
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ رَبُّ ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
He is Allah! There is no god worthy of worship except Him, the Lord of the Mighty Throne.
In hadith literature, we find that the Arsh is mentioned as the highest of all created things.
The Throne is the roof of creation and the greatest of created things.
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said in Zaad al-Ma’aad (4/203)1
So is the Arsh even bigger than the Kursi? In various narrations, we find that the prophet (saw) likened the magnanimity of the Arsh of Allah (swt) as compared to His Kursi (footrest) to that of a ring in a desert.
Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “The universe compared to Allah’s Kursi (footrest) is like a ring in a desert. And Allah’s Kursi compared to His Arsh (throne) is like a ring in a desert.”
[Ibn Hibban, Ibn Abi Hatim]
Subhan Allah, A ring in the desert! Its such a beautiful expression. A ring is tiny as compared to the vastness of the desert. That’s how small the whole universe, with its seven skies and earth are, as compared to the Kursi. And the Kursi in turn, is as tiny as a ring, as compared to the Arsh of Allah (swt).
It is interesting that a “ring” is mentioned. Why not a square, a cube or something else? What is so special about a ring that prophet (saw) chose it in particular? A ring is a closed, circular shape and the analogy seems to suggest that the universe and the kursi are shaped like a ring within another ring, arranged in concentric circles, each circle smaller than the one that encloses it from above, so much so that it looks just like a tiny ring in a vast desert. This also matches well with the previously mentioned verse of the Quran where the word طِبَاقًا or “layers” was used to describe the structure of the seven heavens.
This is how amazingly huge Allah’s creation is, with His Arsh being the largest of all creation, above everything, and holding within it, everything else. A vast desert holding a tiny ring. Like a dome, it stretches over the entirety of the creation. It is the highest of all created things, nothing is above it except Allah (swt).
وَمَا قَدَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدْرِهِۦ وَٱلْأَرْضُ جَمِيعًا قَبْضَتُهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ مَطْوِيَّـٰتٌۢ بِيَمِينِهِۦ ۚ سُبْحَـٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَـٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
They did not hold Allah in His true esteem. The whole earth will be in a single grip of His hand on the Day of Doom, and the heavens (will be) rolled up on his right hand. Pure is He, far too higher than what they associate with Him.
As we continue on our journey of reading and understanding the hidden secrets of the Quran, let our hearts marvel and our intellect be filled with awe, let our imagination be shaken, our gaze mesmerized and our consciousness be filled with the grandeur of the divine. May Allah (swt) bless us with beneficial knowledge. Ameen.
- The same was stated by Shaykh Al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) in Majmu` Al-Fatawa, 6/581, 25/1998.
It was also stated by Ibn Kathir in Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, 1/9, 11; and by Ibn Abu Al-`Izz in Sharh Al-`Aqidah At-Tahawiyyah, 1/311. (See: Mukhtasar Al-`Ulu by Adh-Dhahabi; At-Tawhid by Ibn Khuzaymah; Ijtima` Al-Juyush Al-Islamiyyah by Ibn Al-Qayyim) ↩︎