I asked, "Messenger of Allah, where was our Lord before He created His creation?"He replied, "He was in a cloud, with no air below it and no air above it, and He created His Throne upon the water."
قلت: يا رسول الله أين كان ربنا قبل أن يخلق خلقه؟ قال: كان في عماء ما تحته هواء، وما فوقه هواء، وخلق عرشه على الماء.
Tirmidhi (3109) and Ibn Majah (182) both narrated it through Yazid bin Harun, who said, "Hammad bin Salama informed us, from Yaala bin Ata, from Waki bin Hudus, from his uncle Abu Razeen," who said, and he related it.See its full referencing and detailed discussion in the Book of Faith, in the chapter on what has been said about the believers seeing their Lord on the Day of Resurrection.It was also narrated from Ibn Umar, who said, "Allah created four things with His own hand, the Throne, the Gardens of Eden, Adam, and the Pen, and He veiled Himself from creation with four things, fire, darkness, light, and darkness."Hakim narrated it (2/319), and through his route Bayhaqi in Asma wa Sifat (693), through Sufyan bin Saeed, from Ubayd the scribe and teacher, from Mujahid, from Ibn Umar, and he related the same.Hakim said, "This hadith has a sahih chain."I say, it is a mawquf narration attributed to Ibn Umar, and its chain is sahih.Dhahabi cited it in Uluw (169) through the route of Abdul-Wahid bin Ziyad, from Ubayd the teacher, and he added, after the words "Allah created four things with His own hand...", "then He said to the rest of creation, 'Be,' and it was." He said, "Its chain is good."