Compiled by Imam Abu Dawud as-Sijistani
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الصَّبَّاحِ الْبَزَّازُ، حَدَّثَنَا الْوَلِيدُ بْنُ أَبِي ثَوْرٍ، عَنْ سِمَاكٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمِيرَةَ، عَنِ الأَحْنَفِ بْنِ قَيْسٍ، عَنِ الْعَبَّاسِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْمُطَّلِبِ، قَالَ كُنْتُ فِي الْبَطْحَاءِ فِي عِصَابَةٍ فِيهِمْ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَمَرَّتْ بِهِمْ سَحَابَةٌ فَنَظَرَ إِلَيْهَا فَقَالَ " مَا تُسَمُّونَ هَذِهِ " . قَالُوا السَّحَابَ . قَالَ " وَالْمُزْنَ " . قَالُوا وَالْمُزْنَ . قَالَ " وَالْعَنَانَ " . قَالُوا وَالْعَنَانَ . قَالَ أَبُو دَاوُدَ لَمْ أُتْقِنِ الْعَنَانَ جَيِّدًا قَالَ " هَلْ تَدْرُونَ مَا بُعْدُ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالأَرْضِ " . قَالُوا لاَ نَدْرِي . قَالَ " إِنَّ بُعْدَ مَا بَيْنَهُمَا إِمَّا وَاحِدَةٌ أَوِ اثْنَتَانِ أَوْ ثَلاَثٌ وَسَبْعُونَ سَنَةً ثُمَّ السَّمَاءُ فَوْقَهَا كَذَلِكَ " . حَتَّى عَدَّ سَبْعَ سَمَوَاتٍ " ثُمَّ فَوْقَ السَّابِعَةِ بَحْرٌ بَيْنَ أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَعْلاَهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ ثَمَانِيَةُ أَوْعَالٍ بَيْنَ أَظْلاَفِهِمْ وَرُكَبِهِمْ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِمُ الْعَرْشُ بَيْنَ أَسْفَلِهِ وَأَعْلاَهُ مِثْلُ مَا بَيْنَ سَمَاءٍ إِلَى سَمَاءٍ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ " .
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. AbuDawud 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.