حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ الْبَزَّازُ حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي ثَوْرٍ عَنْ سِمَاکٍ عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمِيرَةَ عَنْ الْأَحْنَفِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ عَنْ الْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ قَالَ کُنْتُ فِي الْبَطْحَائِ فِي عِصَابَةٍ فِيهِمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّی اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَمَرَّتْ بِهِمْ سَحَابَةٌ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا فَقَالَ مَا تُسَمُّونَ هَذِهِ قَالُوا السَّحَابَ قَالَ وَالْمُزْنَ قَالُوا وَالْمُزْنَ قَالَ وَالْعَنَانَ قَالُوا وَالْعَنَانَ قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُد لَمْ أُتْقِنْ الْعَنَانَ جَيِّدًا قَالَ هَلْ تَدْرُونَ مَا بُعْدُ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَائِ وَالْأَرْضِ قَالُوا لَا نَدْرِي قَالَ إِنَّ بُعْدَ مَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِمَّا وَاحِدَةٌ أَوْ اثْنَتَانِ أَوْ ثَلَاثٌ وَسَبْعُونَ سَنَةً ثُمَّ السَّمَائُ فَوْقَهَا کَذَلِکَ حَتَّی عَدَّ سَبْعَ سَمَاوَاتٍ ثُمَّ فَوْقَ السَّابِعَةِ بَحْرٌ بَيْنَ أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَعْلَاهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَائٍ إِلَی سَمَائٍ ثُمَّ فَوْقَ ذَلِکَ ثَمَانِيَةُ أَوْعَالٍ بَيْنَ أَظْلَافِهِمْ وَرُکَبِهِمْ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَائٍ إِلَی سَمَائٍ ثُمَّ عَلَی ظُهُورِهِمْ الْعَرْشُ مَا بَيْنَ أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَعْلَاهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَائٍ إِلَی سَمَائٍ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ تَبَارَکَ وَتَعَالَی فَوْقَ ذَلِکَ
سنن ابودوٗد · Hadith 4723
Narrated Al-Abbas ibn Abdul Muttalib: I was sitting in al-Batha with a company among whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was sitting, when a cloud passed above them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at it and said: What do you call this? They said: Sahab. He said: And muzn? They said: And muzn. He said: And anan? They said: And anan. Abu Dawud said: I am not quite confident about the word anan. He asked: Do you know the distance between Heaven and Earth? They replied: We do not know. He then said: The distance between them is seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three years. The heaven which is above it is at a similar distance (going on till he counted seven heavens). Above the seventh heaven there is a sea, the distance between whose surface and bottom is like that between one heaven and the next. Above that there are eight mountain goats the distance between whose hoofs and haunches is like the distance between one heaven and the next. Then Allah, the Blessed and the Exalted, is above that.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020