‘Throne’. The Qur’an describes God as the ‘Lord of the Throne’ (Q. 17:42, etc.), on which ‘He sat himself’ (Q. 10:3, etc.) and which is described as being ‘upon the waters’ (Q. 11:7) or ‘born by angels’ (Q. 69:17, etc.) The concept was an object of debate among theologians. While al-Ashʿarī (d. 935) maintained the literal interpretation, the Mu‘tazila interpreted it allegorically to avoid an anthropomorphic reading. In al-Nasafī’s (d. 943) cosmology, the Qur’anic ‘throne’ is equated to the philosophical concept of Intellect.
