31 - Ismāʿīl b. ʿUbayd b. Abī Karīma al-Ḥarrānī narrated to us: Muḥammad b. Salama narrated to me, from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Khālid b. Abī Yazīd: Zayd b. Abī Unaysa narrated to me, from al-Minhāl b. ʿAmr, from [64] Abū ʿUbayda b. ʿAbd Allāh, from Masrūq b. al-Ajdaʿ: ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd narrated to us, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, who said: "God will gather the first and the last for the appointed time of a known Day, standing for forty years, their eyes staring fixedly at the sky, awaiting the decisive judgment." He said: "And God, Mighty and Majestic, will descend in canopies of clouds from the Throne to the Footstool (al-Kursī). Then a caller will call out from the heaven: 'O people, are you not pleased with your Lord who created you, provided for you, and commanded you to worship Him and not associate anything with Him, that He should assign every person among you to what they used to take as patrons and worship in the world? Is that not justice from your Lord?' They will say: 'Yes, indeed.' He said: "Then every group will go to what they used to take as patrons in the world." He said: "So they will go, and the likenesses of what they used to worship will be presented to them. Some of them will go to the sun, some of them will go to the moon, and to idols of stone, and the likenesses of what they used to worship." He said: "And for those who used to worship ʿĪsā, the devil of ʿĪsā will be presented; and for those who used to worship ʿUzayr, the devil of ʿUzayr will be presented. Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and his nation will remain. Then the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will come to them and say to them: 'What is the matter with you that you do not go as the people have gone?' He said: "They will say: 'We have a God whom we have not yet seen.' He will say: 'Would you recognize Him if you saw Him?' They will say: 'Between us and Him is a sign; if we see it, we will recognize Him.' He will say: 'What is it?' They will say: 'He uncovers His Shin.' Then everyone whose back was a single block will fall prostrate, while a group whose backs are like the horns of cows will remain; they will want to prostrate but will not be able to, and they had been called to prostration while they were sound. Then He will say: 'Raise your heads.' He said: "So they will raise their heads, and He will give them their light according to their deeds. Among them is one who is given his light like a great mountain running before him; among them is one who is given his light smaller than that; among them is one who is given his light like a date-palm tree on his right; and among them is one who is given his light smaller than that, [65] until the last of them is a man who is given his light on the big toe of his foot, illuminating once and extinguishing once. When it illuminates, he puts his foot forward and walks, and when it extinguishes, he stands still upon the Path (al-Ṣirāṭ)." He said: "And the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will be before them until He passes through the Hellfire, and its trace will remain like the edge of a sword, slippery and unstable. Then He will say: 'Pass over.' So they will pass over according to their light.

"Some of them will pass like the blink of an eye, some will pass like lightning, some will pass like the passing of clouds, some will pass like the wind, some will pass like the galloping of a horse, and some will pass like a running man, until the man whose light is on his big toe passes, crawling on his face, his hands, and his feet, dragging one hand and hanging onto another, dragging one foot and hanging onto another, while the Hellfire strikes his sides. He will remain like that until he is saved. When he is saved, he will stand by it and then say: 'Praise be to God, for God, Mighty and Majestic, has given me what He has not given anyone else, since He saved me from it after I saw it.'" He said: "Then he will be taken to a pool at the gate of Paradise, where he will bathe, and the fragrance and colors of the people of Paradise will return to him." He said: "He will see what is in Paradise through the gate, so he will say: 'My Lord, admit me into Paradise.' God, Mighty and Majestic, will say to him: 'Do you ask for Paradise when I have just saved you from the Hellfire?' He will say: 'My Lord, place a veil between me and it so that I do not hear its sound.'" He said: "So he will enter Paradise, and he will see, or there will be raised for him, a dwelling in front of that, such that what he is currently in will seem like a dream compared to it. He will say: 'My Lord, give me that dwelling.'" He said: "He will say to him: 'Perhaps if I give it to you, you will ask for another?'" He said: "He will say: 'No, by Your might and majesty, I will not ask You for another! What dwelling could be better than this?' So he will be given it and will settle in it." He said: "Then he will see in front of that a dwelling, such that what he is currently in will seem like a dream compared to it. He will say: 'My Lord, give me that dwelling.'" He said: "God, Mighty and Majestic, will say to him: 'Perhaps if you are given it, you will ask for another?' He will say: 'No, by Your might, I will not ask You for another! What dwelling could be better than it?' So he will be given it."

He said: "Then he will see, [66] or there will be raised for him, in front of that another dwelling, such that what he is currently in will seem like a dream compared to it. He will say: 'My Lord, give me that dwelling.'" He said: "God, Mighty and Majestic, will say: 'Perhaps if you are given it, you will ask for another?' He will say: 'No, by Your might! What dwelling could be better than it?' So he will be given it and will settle in it." He said: "Then he will remain silent. God, Mighty and Majestic, will say: 'What is the matter with you that you do not ask?' He will say: 'My Lord, I have asked You until I am ashamed before You, and I have sworn to You until I am ashamed before You.' He will say: 'Would it not please you that I give you the equivalent of the world from the day I created it until the day I end it, and ten times as much?' He will say: 'Are You mocking me, while You are the Lord of the worlds?'" He said: "Then the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will laugh at his statement.

"I saw ʿAbd Allāh b. Masʿūd laugh whenever he reached this point in this hadith." He said: "The man said to him: 'O Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, I have heard you narrate this hadith several times, and whenever you reach this point in this hadith, you laugh.' Ibn Masʿūd said: 'I heard the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, narrate this hadith several times, and whenever he reached this point in this hadith, he would laugh until his furthest molars became visible.'" He said: "Then the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, will say: 'But I am capable of that.' He will say: 'My Lord, join me with the people.' He will say: 'Join the people.' So he will go and enter Paradise. When he draws near to the people, a palace of pearl will be raised for him, and he will fall down prostrate. It will be said to him: 'Raise your head, what is the matter with you?' He will say: 'I saw my Lord,' or 'My Lord appeared to me.' It will be said to him: 'It is only one of your dwellings.'

He said: "Then he will meet a man and prepare to prostrate. He will say to him: 'Stop, what is the matter with you?' He will say: 'I thought you were an angel from the angels.' He will say: 'I am only one of your treasurers, a servant among your servants; under my authority are a thousand stewards just like me.'" He said: "Then he will walk ahead of him until he opens the palace for him." He said: "And it is a hollowed pearl; its ceilings, its doors, its locks, and its keys are made from it. He will be met by a green jewel lined with red; every jewel leads to another jewel of a different color. In every jewel are couches, wives, and maidservants. The lowest of them is a wide-eyed maiden wearing seventy garments; the marrow of her shin can be seen from behind her garments. Her liver is his mirror, and his liver is her mirror. If he turns away from her for a single turn, she increases in his eyes seventyfold." He said: "It will be said to him: 'Look out.' So he will look out." He said: "[67] It will be said to him: 'Your kingdom is a journey of a hundred years, as far as your eye can see.'" He said: "Then ʿUmar said: 'Do you not hear what Ibn Umm ʿAbd narrates to us, O Kaʿb, about the lowest of the people of Paradise in rank? So how about the highest of them?' Kaʿb said: 'O Commander of the Believers, no eye has seen, and no ear has heard. Indeed, God, Mighty and Majestic, created a home for Himself, and placed in it whatever He willed of wives, fruits, and drinks. Then He closed it, and no one among His creation has seen it, neither Jibrīl nor any other of the angels.'" He said: "Then Kaʿb recited: {And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for the eyes as reward for what they used to do}.

He said: "And God created below that two gardens, which He adorned with whatever He willed, and showed them to His creation." He said: "So whoever's record is in ʿIlliyyīn will settle in that home which no one has seen. Even a man from the people of ʿIlliyyīn will go out and travel in his kingdom, and there will not remain a single tent among the tents of Paradise except that the light from his face will enter it. They will rejoice at his fragrance, saying: 'Oh, what is this pleasant fragrance? This is a man from the people of ʿIlliyyīn who has gone out to travel in his kingdom.'" He said: "Then ʿUmar said: 'Woe to you, O Kaʿb! These hearts have become relaxed, so tighten them.' Kaʿb said: 'By the One in whose hand is my soul, Hellfire will let out a roar on the Day of Resurrection such that no favored angel or sent prophet will remain except that he will fall to his knees, to the point that Ibrāhīm, the Close Friend of the Most Merciful, will say: "My Lord, myself!" Even if you had the deeds of seventy prophets added to your deeds, you would think that you would not be saved.'"