"And [there] will bear the Throne of your Lord above them"—that is, above the created beings—"that Day, eight [of them]" (69:17). Qatada said: They are four angels today, and on that Day, they will be eight.
Yahya [narrated] from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, who said: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'I have been permitted to speak about one of the angels who bear the Throne; his feet are in the lowest earth, and the Throne is upon his head. Between his earlobe and his shoulder is the distance of seven hundred years of a bird's flight. He says: Glory be to You, wherever You are.'
﴿وَيحمل عرش رَبك فَوْقهم﴾ فَوق الْخَلَائق ﴿يَوْمئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَة﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: هُمُ الْيَوْمَ أَرْبَعَةٌ مِنَ الْمَلائِكَةِ وَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ.
يَحْيَى: عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْكَدِرِ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: ((أُذِنَ لِي أَنْ أُحَدِّثَ عَنْ مَلَكٍ مِنْ حَمَلَةِ الْعَرْشِ رجْلاه فِي الْأَرْضِ السُّفْلَى، وَعَلَى قرْنه العرشُ، وَبَيْنَ شَحْمَةِ أُذُنِهِ إِلَى عَاتِقه خفقان الطير مسيرَة سَبْعمِائة سَنَةٍ، يَقُولُ: سُبْحَانَكَ حَيْثُ كُنْتَ)).
