I was in the Batha valley among a group of people that included the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when a cloud passed by them. He looked at it and asked, "What do you call this?"They replied, "A cloud."He said, "And muzn?"They said, "And muzn."He said, "And anan?"They said, "And anan."Abu Dawud said, I did not master the word "anan" well.He asked, "Do you know how great is the distance between the heaven and the earth?"They said, "We do not know."He said, "The distance between them is either seventy-one, seventy-two, or seventy-three years. Then the heaven above it is the same distance," until he counted seven heavens. "Then above the seventh heaven is a sea, the distance between its bottom and top is like the distance between one heaven and another. Then above that are eight mountain goats, the distance between their hooves and their knees is like the distance between one heaven and another. Then upon their backs is the Throne, the distance between its bottom and top is like the distance between one heaven and another. Then Allah is above that."
حدثنا محمد بن الصباح البزاز حدثنا الوليد بن أبي ثور عن سماك عن عبد الله بن عميرة عن الأحنف بن قيس
كنت في البطحاء في عصابة فيهم رسول الله ﷺ فمرت بهم سحابة فنظر إليها فقال ما تسمون هذه قالوا السحاب قال والمزن قالوا والمزن قال والعنان قالوا والعنان قال أبو داود لم أتقن العنان جيدا قال هل تدرون ما بعد ما بين السماء والأرض قالوا لا ندري قال إن بعد ما بينهما إما واحدة أو اثنتان أو ثلاث وسبعون سنة ثم السماء فوقها كذلك حتى عد سبع سماوات ثم فوق السابعة بحر بين أسفله وأعلاه مثل ما بين سماء إلى سماء ثم فوق ذلك ثمانية أوعال بين أظلافهم وركبهم مثل ما بين سماء إلى سماء ثم على ظهورهم العرش ما بين أسفله وأعلاه مثل ما بين سماء إلى سماء ثم الله تبارك وتعالى فوق ذلك
Sourced from Ibn Majah, Introduction, chapter on what the Jahmiyyah denied, hadith no. 193, from Muhammad bin Sabbah with this wording. Its chain of transmission is daif. Tirmidhi graded it hasan, hadith no. 3320.Simak's memory became confused in his later years, and it is not known whether Abdullah bin Umayrah actually heard from Ahnaf, as Bukhari stated.