He said: It is the many-columned Iram.

He said: It is the many-columned Iram...and it will be visited by a Muslim man during your time, who will be red-faced, blond, short (of stature), with a mole on his eye-brow and another mole on his neck, going out in request of his camels. Then he turned his face, and on seeing Ibn Qullabah, he said: By God, this is the man meant (in the hadith), 283 and no man will ever enter al-Madinah after him till the Day of Resurrection.

284 When Ka’b finished his speech, Mu’awiyah said to him: 285 O Abu Ishaq, Tell me about the chair of Sulayman ibn Dawud, and what was on it, and from what it was made. In his reply he embarked on citing what he had of superstitions and legends that are out of scope here, and can be found in Tafsir books. Abu al-Shaykh in his book al-’Adamah, reported from Ka’b as saying: The seven earths rest upon a rock, and the rock is in an angel’s hand, and the angel is on a wing of a whale.

The whale is in the water, and the water is on the wind, and the wind is over the air. It is a barren wind that never pollinates (the plants), and its horns are hanging from the Throne. Wahb ibn Munabbih is reported to have said: Four angels hold the Throne on their shoulders, each one of them (angels) has four faces: an ox face, a lion’s face, an eagle’s face, and a human being’s face.

Every angel has four wings, two on his face so as to keep him from looking to the Throne, when he would stun and float in the air. Thereat he can say nothing but the words: Quddus (the All Holy), the Mighty King... Whose Greatness has filled the heavens and the earth. 286 Ibn al-Faqih, in his Ta’rikh, reports: The Prophet (may God’s peace and benediction upon him and his Progeny) was asked once about the earth, can it be seven? He replied: Yes and the heavens are seven.

Then he cited the verse: “God is He Who created the seven heavens and of the earth, the like unto them...” One of those present there said: So are we (living) on the first face of the earth? He said: Yea...and on the second one there are creatures, who obey God and never disobey Him. On the third one creatures are there. On the fourth one there is a smooth rock. On the fifth face there is a shallow of water. On the sixth one there is baked clay upon which rests throne of Iblis.

And on the seventh one there is an ox, which is over a fish, and the fish is on the water, and the water is on the air. The air is on the soil, and the soil (thara) is separated, containing the knowledge of the scholars.