18014 - From Qatadah regarding His saying: 'It is He who made you successors upon the earth'—he said: A nation after a nation, and a generation after a generation. Regarding His saying: 'Show Me what they have created of the earth'—he said: They have created nothing of it, by God. Regarding His saying: 'Or do they have share in the heavens?'—he said: No, by God, they have no share in them at all. 'Or have We given them a Book so they are upon clear evidence from it?'—He says: Or have We given them a Book, and it commands them not to associate partners with Me.

His saying, the Almighty: 'Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease.'

18015 - Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Junayd narrated to us, Ishaq ibn Ibrahim narrated to us, Hisham ibn Yusuf narrated to me, from Umayyah ibn Shibl, from al-Hakam ibn Aban, from 'Ikrimah, from Abu Hurayrah (may God be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say: "It occurred to the mind of Moses (peace be upon him): Does Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sleep? So Allah sent an angel to him, who kept him awake for three [days/nights], and gave him two bottles, one in each hand, and commanded him to guard them. He began to sleep, and his hands nearly met; then he would awaken and hold one back from the other, until he slept a sleep, and his hands struck together and the two bottles shattered. He said: Allah struck a parable for him that if Allah (Blessed and Exalted) were to sleep, He would not hold the heavens nor the earth."

18016 - From Kharashah ibn al-Hurr (may God be pleased with him), he said: 'Abd Allah ibn Salam narrated to me that Moses (peace be upon him) said: O Gabriel, does your Lord sleep? Gabriel said: O my Lord, Your servant Moses asks You: Do You sleep? Allah said: "O Gabriel, tell him to take two bottles in his hands and stand on the mountain from the beginning of the night until morning." He stood on the mountain and took two bottles, and he was patient. When it was the last part of the night, his eyes overcame him, and they fell and shattered. He said: O Gabriel, the two bottles have shattered. Allah said: O Gabriel, tell My servant that if I were to sleep, the heavens and the earth would cease."

18017 - From Ibn 'Abbas (may God be pleased with both of them) he said: The earth is upon a whale, and the chain is upon the ear of the whale in the hand of Allah the Almighty, and that is His saying: 'Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease.' He said: From their place.