in summary: the ḥadīth through these chains is authentic, and the best of them is the last chain, and Allāh knows best. The ḥadīth was narrated in the context of interpreting His saying, the Exalted: "His Kursī extends over the heavens and the earth" (Sūrat al-Baqarah, 2:255), and it clearly indicates that the Kursī is the greatest of creations after the Throne, and that it is a physical entity, not something abstract. Thus, it refutes those who interpret it as meaning dominion and vast authority, as mentioned in some exegeses. As for what is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that it is knowledge, its isnād is not authentic to him because it is from the narration of Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīrah from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr from him. It was narrated by Ibn Jarīr. Ibn Mandah said: Ibn Abī al-Mughīrah is not strong in [his narration from] Ibn Jubayr. And know that no authentic ḥadīth exists regarding the description of the Kursī other than this one, as in some narrations it is said to be the place of the feet. And that it creaks like a new saddle, and that it is carried by four angels, each angel having four faces, and their feet are on the rock beneath the seventh earth... etc., all of this is not authentically attributed to the Prophet (ṣallá Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam), and some of it is weaker than others. I have included some of these in what we annotated on the book "What the Qurʾān Indicates Supporting the New Correct Cosmology" appended at the end, published by the Islamic Office.