The Kursi (seat of God)

On the verse of the Throne, Sha'rawi reads the kursi as sovereignty, power and dominion, and holds that it is greater than the heavens and earth because it encompasses them ¹.

He says that kursi comes from gathering, and may refer to the base on which a thing rests. He cites "the kursi of kingship" because sitting on it shows that a matter is settled ¹.

He reports the hadith of Abu Dhar, which says that the seven heavens and seven earths are, beside the kursi, like a ring thrown in a desert, and that the throne's excellence over the kursi is like the desert's over the ring. He refers to the footnote for its sources, without grading it ².

He compares the distances of the earth, moon and stars, and holds that humans have not yet reached the lowest heaven. The kursi encompasses what human imagination cannot bound, and God's keeping them does not weigh on Him ^{3 4}.

The astronomical figures are illustrations in Sha'rawi's text and are not entered as facts. The chain and grade of the hadith have not been checked. The academic view and any non-Sunni view have not been checked.

The Sheikh describes the Kursi as vast, saying that the heavens beside it are like a ring thrown into a desert, and that the Kursi beside the Throne is likewise like a ring thrown into a desert ⁵.