The
Throne
Verse

So what is it about the Ayat ul Kursi

that makes it the Chief of the verses of the Qur'an?

Well,

Al-Ghazzali began with a reminder that knowledge of God,

[Hu]'s Essence and Attributes,

is the ultimate aim of all Qur'anic sciences,

and that all other divisions are sought because of it,

while it is sought for itself

and not for anything other than itself.

Al-Ghazzali then explains that

the Verse of the Throne is the Chief because

it is only concerned with the Divine Essence, Attributes and Works

It contains nothing other than these.

When you reflect on all these meanings in the verse,

divine unity, sanctification, and explanation of high attributes

gathered together in a single verse,

no other verse contains all these,

and the Throne verse contains them all and nothing else.

It begins with God,

the Name of Names, the repository of all the Names,

Allahu.

The word springs out of silence after impetus from the heart,

from the depths of the diaphragm

with a surge in the chest and lungs, air pushes open the throat

and strums the larynx,

then jiggles around being shaped by the tongue

on its way to concluding with the sound of

no more than a breath,

a lifetime between first breath and no breath.

It is followed by a phrase that is endlessly linked with it,

la ilaha illa,

but this time where the Name Allah usually follows

it is replaced by [Hu],

showing the equivalence of the Named God,

known through Names and Attributes,

and the indivisible unity of God's Essence.

[Hu] cannot be distinguished, because there is no means of comparison.

Whereupon

the ayat immediately provides Names and Attributes

to be considered, discussed and compared,

like a mercy on poor humans struggling to relate to God's Essence without Names.

And the Names chosen are al-Hayy and al-Qayoom,

often seen as almost bound together,

al-Hayy, the Ever-Living, always lived and always will,

and al-Qayoom, the Self-Existing, Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining.

But al-Qayoom has all sorts of different meanings

from its root meaning of becoming upright or making upright,

as in standing, or guiding upward growth.

and with standing comes being watchful,

and Mujahid said

[Hu] is the Watcher over everything,

while Al-Rabi' draws out the meaning that

[Hu] is the Custodian of all things,

guarding them, providing for them and preserving them.

The ayat then says that

neither drowsiness nor sleep overcome [Hu].

These states that are unavoidable for humans

have no meaning with regard to [Hu].

Tabari wrote that the changing of states and the alteration of the night and day

do not remove [Hu] from the state wherein [Hu] always is.

Eternally in one state.

To [Hu] belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth,

all that is existent and all that can be understood.

Ja'far b. Mansur calls this phrase,

a portal of the Attributes, and a portal of Hu's knowledge,

which no-one and nothing encompasses in its full scope

And should we wish to plead with God,

we are reminded that pleading requires humility,

as who is there can plead with Hu except by Hu's permission.

Khwaja 'Abd Allah Ansari said

“O God! Those who were favoured by You

sought You through You and were united with You.

Those who did not have Your favour

sought You by themselves and were cut off”.

Now the phrase that follows

describing the range of God's knowledge

has triggered much lexicological discussion,

because the related spacial and temporal meanings of the words in Arabic

show an intriguing variation of meaning,

with words having dual and opposite meanings,

Like the word 'before' in English

which means what is in front of you spacially,

like something between your hands.

But when speaking of time,

'before' also has two opposed meanings,

what went before you in the past,

and what is before you still to come.

In a similar fashion the phrase in the ayat can mean God knows

'what is ahead of them and what is behind them'

or

'what is prior to them and what is after them'.

But either way, rest assured that God knows everything.

And the Message makes clear

that we can know nothing of [Hu]'s knowledge if [Hu] does not will it.

Abu Hayyan says that

knowledge as spoken of here is 'the known fact',

because God's knowledge,

which is a characteristic of [Hu]'s essence

is not divisible,

and they do not know anything of the unseen which is known to God

except for that of which God chooses to inform them.

In the phrase from which the ayat gets its name,

we are told that [Hu]'s Throne

is as wide as the heavens and the earth.

All of created existence

comes in the embrace of the Kursi.

So as might be imagined

there has been much discussion as to its inferences and implications.

Especially as the word does not really mean 'throne',

'Arsh' is the word that means 'throne',

and it is used many times in the Qur'an,

whereas Kursi appears only twice,

here and the kursi of Solomon.

The Kursi is not so much the throne as the raised area on which it sits,

not exactly a chair

more a seat of power.

But people have seen many meanings in the word.

Ja'far b. Mansur calls the Kursi

the portal of the knowledge of the hidden things

that are appearing from the Unseen realms of heaven and earth.

Others, like Maybudi

reject such interpretations,

so far from the root meaning of the word.

Zamakhshari says the kursi is what is sat upon

and is no more than the seat of the one who is sitting,

though he does make clear that in this case it is an imaginal portrayal

and that there is no actual material chair.

And he is also happy to associate the kursi with knowledge.

We are told that

protecting the heavens and the earth does not tire [Hu].

Fadl Allah says the meaning is simply that

God's dominion and authority encompass the heavens and the earth,

for [Hu] is the One who manages them,

guards them and preserves them

without any strain or tiredness.

As [Hu]'s power is limitless,

strain and tiredness bear no relevance to [Hu] in whatever state or context.

For Hu is the Most-High, the All-Mighty.

Alusi says if minds fall short of comprehending a single thing of the things Hu knows,

how can they aspire to comprehend Hu's self,

how preposterous.

How is the blind bat of comprehension to open its eyes

before the shining sun of that self?

Hu is the Most-High,

not restricted by universes,

the All-Mighty, the Tremendous,

Hu's glory is infinite

and the true nature of Hu's essence cannot be imagined because of declaring [Hu] absolute,

even beyond the restrictions of absoluteness.

Even absoluteness is restrictive as applied to God,

as it confines the Divine within a qualification

Ja'far al-Sadiq said that

everything has a pinnacle,

and the pinnacle of the Qur'an is the Ayat-ul-Kursi