17 Preface وَالمَلَكُ عَلىٰ أَرجائِها ۚ وَيَحمِلُ عَرشَ رَبِّكَ فَوقَهُم يَومَئِذٍ ثَمانِيَةٌYusuf AliAnd the angels will be on its sides,1 and eight will, that Day, bear the Throne2 of thy Lord above them.The whole picture is painted in graphic poetical images, to indicate that which cannot be adequately described in words, and which indeed our human faculties with their present limited powers are not ready to comprehend. The angels will be on all sides, arrayed in ranks upon ranks, and the Throne of the Lord on high will be borne by eight angels (or eight rows of angels). That will be the Day when Justice will be fully established and man be mustered to his Lord for reckoning. (R).The number eight has perhaps no special significance, unless it be with reference to the shape of the Throne or the number of the angels. The Oriental Throne is often octagonal, and its bearers would be one at each corner. (R).