What Ḥarb b. Ismāʿīl al-Kirmānī mentioned in his Masāʾil, he said to Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm — who is the famous Imam known as Ibn Rāhawayh —: What do you say regarding His statement, the Exalted: {There is no secret counsel of three} the verse [al-Mujādala: 7]?
He said: Wherever you are, He is closer to you than the jugular vein, and He is distinct from His creation.
I said to Isḥāq: On the Throne with Al-Ḥadd?
He said: Yes, with Al-Ḥadd. And he mentioned it from Ibn al-Mubārak.
He said: He is on His Throne, distinct from His creation with Al-Ḥadd.
It is not permissible to delve into the matter of God, the Exalted, just as it is permissible to delve into the actions of created beings, due to the statement of God, the Exalted: {He is not questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned} [al-Anbiyāʾ: 23].
And it is not permissible for anyone to imagine about God regarding His attributes and His actions with the understanding of what is permissible to reflect upon and look into regarding the matter of created beings. That is because it is possible for God, Mighty and Majestic, to be described with descending every night when a third of it has passed to the lowest heaven as He wills, and it is not asked how His descent is; because the Creator does what He wills as He wills.
Shaykh al-Islām narrated from Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-Thaqafī:
I heard Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm al-Ḥanẓalī say: I entered one day upon Ṭāhir
