English translation
4723. It was narrated from Al-Walid bin Abī Thawr, from Simāk, from ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Amīrah, from Al-Ahnaf bin Qais, from Al-‘Abbās bin ‘Abdul-Muṭṭalib, who said: “I was in Al-Baṭḥā’ with a group of people, among whom was the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. A cloud passed over him, and he looked at it and said: ‘What do you call this?’ They said: ‘As-Saḥāb (a cloud).’ He said: ‘And Al-Muzn (rain cloud)?’ They said: And: ‘Al-Muzn.’ He said: ‘And Anān (clouds)?’ They said: ‘And Al-‘Anān.’” – Abū Dāwūd said: I am not very certain about Al-‘Anān[3] – “He said: ‘How much (distance) do you think there is between heaven and earth?’ They said: ‘We do not know.’ He said: ‘Between them is (a distance of) seventy-one, or seventy-two, or seventy-three years, and between it, and the heaven above it is the same (and so on)’ – until he had counted seven heavens. ‘Then above the seventh heaven there is a sea, between whose top and bottom is a distance like that between one heaven and another. Then above that there are eight mountain goats.[1] The distance between their hooves and their knees is like the distance between one heaven and the next. Then on their backs is the Throne, and the distance between the bottom and the top of the Throne, is like the distance between one heaven and another. Then Allāh is above that, may He be blessed and exalted.” (Ḍaʿīf)