He is Abu Ibraaheem, Ismaa'eel bin Yahyaa, bin Ismaa'eel bin Amr bin Muslim al-Muzanee al-Misree and he is the student of Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee. He was born in 175H and died in 264H. His shaykhs include Imaam ash-Shaafi'ee, Nu'aym bin Hammaad, Alee bin Ma'bad and Asbagh bin Naafi'. His students include Abu Bakr bin Khuzaimah (d. 311H), Abu Ja'far at-Tahawi (d. 321), Zakariyyaa bin Yahyaa as-Saajee (d. 307H).

This creed of al-Muzanee is taken from the printed edition of his risaalah "Sharh us-Sunnah" (tahqeeq Jamaal Azzoon, 1st edition, 1995CE) and it is taken from three manuscripts:

• From a collection of manuscripts from the Maktabah of Shaheed Alee Pasha in Turkey, photos of which are amongst the manuscripts of the Islamic University of Madinah, no. 1694, and it has its full chain of narrators to al-Muzanee.

• That which is included by Ibn al-Qayyim in "Ijtimaa' Juyoosh al-Islaamiyyah" and adh-Dhahabee in "al-Uluww"

• That which is found in the library of Shaykh Hammaad al-Ansaaree consisting of four pages and 29 lines, and it has its full chain of narrators to al-Muzanee.

This is photo of the first manuscript:

And this is of the third manuscript:

Al-Muzanee on al-Uluww and al-Istiwaa and a Refutation of the Jahmiyyah, Mu'tazilah and Later [Jahmite] Asha'ris

Al-Muzanee said at the opening of his treatise:

Which translates as:

High, over His Throne [in His Majesty, with His Essence], and He is close to His creation with His knowledge. His knowledge has encompassed (all) the affairs, and the preceding decree (maqdoor) has He enforced. [And He is the Generous, the Forgiving], [and] "He knows the fraud of the eyes, and all that the breasts conceal." (Ghafir 40:19)

And further into the treatise he said:

Which translates as:

High over His Throne, separate and distinct from His creation, existent, not non-existent or absent.

So this is the aqeedah of al-Muzanee (rahimahullaah) regarding al-Uluww and it is the unanimously agreed upon aqeedah of the entirety of the Salaf and it is not possible for anyone to bring an aqeedah that opposes this prior to 400H except from the Jahmite Atheists and misguided Mu'tazilah and the likes of Ibn Sina (d. 429H) the Kafir who said, "Allaah is neither within the universe nor outside of it" (see here), or from those later Ash'arites who abandoned the Kullaabi creed of affirming Allaah is above His Throne, with His Essence, which is what the early Kullaabi Ash'arites were upon (see here).