17وَالمَلَكُ عَلىٰ أَرجائِها ۚ وَيَحمِلُ عَرشَ رَبِّكَ فَوقَهُم يَومَئِذٍ ثَمانِيَةٌAli UnalAnd the angels will be at its ends;1 and above them, eight will bear the Throne of your Lord on that Day.2This statement may be considered together with verse (25: 25): On that Day the heaven will split asunder with the clouds (covering it), and the angels will be made to descend in a majestic descending.As explained in sūrah 7, note 13, the Supreme Throne of God (‘Arsh), the exact nature of which we cannot know, signifies God’s absolute authority over the universe. Deducing from Bediüzaman Said Nursi’s description of water as the ‘arsh (throne) of mercy, and earth as the throne of life, we can say that the ‘Arsh (Throne) indicates primarily God’s Attributes of Knowledge, Will, Power, and Providence, and His Names originating in them, such as the All-Knowing, the All-Willing, the All-Powerful, and the All-Providing. As it encompasses the whole universe, it is also composed of God’s Names, the First, the Last, the Outward, and the Inward. These are His most prominent Attributes and Names relating to the creation and the actual rule of the universe. And as pointed out in sūrah 2, note 30, no event in the universe is conceivable without the operative intervention of the angels. The Qur’ān mentions many types of angels (37: 1–3; 77: 1–4, 79: 1–5, 82: 11). So those who bear God’s Throne may be Archangels whom He employs in the rule of the universe for some wise purposes and for the majesty of His rule, particularly those who are endowed with the greatest manifestation of the Attributes of God mentioned. According to some, based on a Prophetic Tradition recorded in ad-Durr al-Manthūr by as-Suyūtī, there are four beings that bear the Throne during the life of the world, and there will be eight on the Resurrection Day. According to Muhyi’d-Dīn ibn al-’Arabī and Ibn Maysarah al-Jīlī, these are the Prophets Muhammad, Abraham and Adam, upon them all be peace, and the angels Ridwān (the chief guard of Paradise), Mālik (the chief guard of Hell), Gabriel, Mikā’il (Michael), and Isrā’fil (Yazır, 8: 5325–5326).