His saying: "And it is He who spread the earth."

12101 - My father narrated to us, Abu Salih, the scribe of al-Layth, narrated to us, al-Layth narrated to me, Khalid ibn Yazid narrated to me, from Sa‘id ibn Abi Hilal, from ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd Allah, the freed slave of Ghufratah, that Ka‘b said to ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab: "Shall I not tell you about the loftiness of the Almighty?" ‘Umar said: "Yes." He said: "Indeed, Allah has made the distance between the East and the West five hundred years; one hundred years in the East, in which nothing of living beings dwells—neither jinn, nor humans, nor beasts, nor trees—and one hundred years in the West of the same status, and three hundred years between the East and the West, in which living beings dwell."

12102 - My father narrated to us, al-Hasan ibn Waqi‘ narrated to us, Damrah narrated to us, from al-Awza‘i, who said: ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Amr said: "The world is a journey of five hundred years: four hundred are wilderness, and one hundred is inhabited, in the hands of the Muslims; the duration of that is a journey of one year."

12103 - My father narrated to us, Nasr ibn ‘Ali narrated to us, al-Asma‘i informed us, al-Namir ibn Hilal narrated to us, from Qatada, from Abu al-Jild, who said: "The earth is twenty-four thousand farsakhs; the Sudan (land of the blacks) is twelve, the Romans eight, Persia three, and the Arabs one."

12104 - My father narrated to us, Abu Nasr al-Tammar narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Abu Sinan, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: "The inhabited part of the world compared to the wilderness is but like a tent in the desert."

His saying, the Exalted: "And set therein mountains (as stabilizers)."

12105 - My father narrated to us, ‘Amr ibn Muhammad al-Naqid narrated to us, Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, al-‘Awwam ibn Hawshab narrated to us, from Sulayman ibn Abi Sulayman, from Anas ibn Malik, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "When Allah created the earth, it began to shake, so He created the mountains and cast them upon it, and it became stable. The angels wondered at the creation of the mountains and asked: 'O Lord, is there anything among Your creation stronger than the mountains?' He said: 'Iron.' They said: 'O Lord, is there anything among Your creation stronger than iron?' He said: 'Yes, fire.' They said: 'Is there anything among Your creation stronger than fire?' He said: 'Yes, water.' They said: 'O Lord, is there anything among Your creation stronger than water?' He said: 'Yes, the wind.' They said: 'O Lord, is there anything among Your creation stronger than the wind?' He said: 'Yes, the son of Adam, who gives charity with his right hand, concealing it from his left.'"

12106 - My father narrated to us, Abu Nu‘aym narrated to us, Talhah ibn ‘Amr narrated to us, from ‘Ata’, who said: "The first mountain placed on the earth was Abu Qubays."