Being.11 For, He is plainly stated to be above all material conceptions: “Vision comprehends Him not and He comprehends all vision” (6:103). And He is not only above all material limitations but even above the limitation of metaphor: “Nothing is like Him” (42:11). To indicate His love, power, knowledge and other attributes, the same words had to be used as are in ordinary use for human beings, but the conception is not quite the same. Even the “hands” of God are spoken of in the Holy Qur’ān (5:64), but it is simply to give expression to His unlimited power in bestowing His favours on whom He will. The word yad which means hand is also used metaphorically to indicate favour (ni‘ma) or protection (ḥifāza) (R.). Thus in 2:237 occur the words “in whose hand (yad) is the marriage tie,” where the word yad is used in a metaphorical sense. In the Nihāya, the word yad is explained as meaning ḥifz (protection) and difā‘ (defence) and in support of this is quoted the ḥadīth which speaks of Gog and Magog in the words la-yadāni li-aḥad-in bi-qitālihim, which signify that no one shall have the power (yadān, lit., two hands) to fight with them. Hence the hands of God in 5:64 stand for His favours according to the Arabic idiom.

Another, and a greater, misunderstanding exists as to the meaning of the expression commonly translated as “uncovering of the leg” (kashf‘ani-l-sāq). Here is nothing but gross ignorance of Arabic idiom that has led some to translate it as such. The expression is used twice in the Holy Qur’ān, once with regard to the queen of Sheba (27:44) and once passively without indicating the subject (68:42). It has never been used in relation to God. The word sāq, which means shank, is used in the expression kashf ‘ani-l-sāq in quite a different sense, for sāq also means difficulty or distress, and the expression under discussion means either to prepare oneself to meet a difficulty or the disclosure of distress (TA., LL.).

‘Arsh or Throne

God’s ‘Arsh or Throne is spoken of, yet does not signify any place, rather representing His control of things as a monarch’s throne is a symbol of his power to rule: “The ‘Arsh of Allāh is one of the things which mankind knows not in reality but only in name, and it is not as the imaginations of the vulgar hold it to be … And it is taken as