The Essence of Islam – Volume II — Page 154
154. Essence of Islām II. Ascent and Descent of Angels. I believe that to Allāh belong angels and that they are close to Him. For everyone of them there is an appointed place. None of them descends from that place or ascends from it. Their coming down that is mentioned in the Holy. Qur'an is not like the descending of a man from a higher to a lower level, nor is their ascending like the ascending of a man from a lower level to a higher level, inasmuch as the descending of a man involves a change in his position and is achieved by effort and involves fatigue; whereas angels do not suffer any fatigue nor have they to make any effort, nor are they subject to any change. . Therefore, do not imagine that their descent and ascent resembles the descent and ascent of other bodies; their descent and ascent resembles the descent and ascent of. Allāh from and to His Throne to and from the heaven of the earth. Allāh has made their existence a part of faith, and has said: 39 ما يَعْلَمُ جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ 'None knows the hosts of thy Lord but He. ' Then believe in their descent and their ascent and do not seek to penetrate into their reality, that is best and closest to righteousness. Allāh has described them as standing, in prostration, arranged in rows, glorifying God and occupying their appointed places. He has bestowed these attributes upon them eternally and permanently and has made them characteristic of them. It is not, therefore, permissible that the angels should give up their prostration and their standing and should disrupt their rows, or should interrupt their glorification of God and their 39 Al-Muddaththir, 74:32 [Publisher]