She ('A'isha) said: If Muhammad were to conceal anything which was sent to him, he would have certainly concealed this verse:" And when thou saidst to him on whom Allah had conferred favour and thou too had conferred favour: Keep thy wife to thyself and fear Allah, and thou wast concealing in thy heart that which Allah was going to disclose, and thou wast fearing men while Allah has a better right that thou shouldst fear Him."

I asked 'A'isha if Muhammad (may peace be upon him) had seen his Lord. She replied: Hallowed be Allah, my hair stood on end when you said this, and he (Masruq) narrated the hadith as narrated above. The hadith reported by Diwud is more complete and longer.

I said to 'A'isha: What about the words of Allah:" Then he drew nigh and came down, so he was at a distance of two bows or closer still: so He revealed to His servant what He revealed" (al-Qur'an, liii. 8-10)? She said: It implies Gabriel. He used to come to him (the Holy Prophet) in the shape of men; but he came at this time in his true form and blocked up the horizon of the sky.

I said to Abu Dharr: Had I seen the Messenger of Allah, I would have asked him. He (Abu Dharr) said: What is that thing that you wanted to inquire of him? He said: I wanted to ask him whether he had seen his Lord. Abu Dharr said: I, in fact, inquired of him, and he replied: I saw Light.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was standing amongst us and he told us four things. He then narrated the hadith like the one reported by Abu Mua'wiya, but did not mention the words" His creation" and said: His veil is the light.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was standing amongst us and (he said) four (things): Verily Allah does not sleep and it does not befit Him to sleep. He raises the scale and lowers it. The deeds of the day are presented to Him in the night and the deeds of the night in the day.

There would be two gardens (in Paradise) the vessels and contents of which would be of silver, and two gardens whose vessels and contents would be of gold. The only thing intervening to hinder the people from looking at their Lord will be the mantle of Grandeur over His face in the Garden of Eden.

He then recited the verse:" Those who do good will have the best reward and even more" (x. 26)

The people said to the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him): Messenger of Allah I shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection? The rest of the hadith was narrated according to the narration of Ibrahim b. Sa'd.

This is what Abu Huraira transmitted to us from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him), and he narrated many of them;- one of them was: The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The lowest in rank among you in Paradise would be asked: Desire (whatever you like). And he would express his desire and again and again express a desire. tHe would be asked: Have you expressed your desire? He would say: Yes. Then He (Allah) would say: For thee is (granted) what thou desirest, and the like of it along with it.

We said: Messenger of Allah, shall we see our Lord? The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun on a cloudless day? We said: No. And the remaining part of the hadith has been narrated to the end like the hadith transmitted by Hafs b. Maisara with the addition of these words: Without the deed that they did or any good that they had sent before. It would be said to them: For you is whatever you see (in it) and with it the like of it. Abu Sa'id said: I have come to know that the bridge would be thinner even than the hair and sharper than the sword; and in the hadith narrated by Laith these words are not found: They would say, O our Lord! Thou hast bestowed upon us (favours) which thou didst not bestow on anyone else in the world.

They would be cast into the river which is called (the river of) life, and (both the narrators) did not doubt the hadith. The text transmitted by Khalid is: just as seeds sprout beside the flood water; and in the hadith of Wuhaib it is: Just as the seed sprouts in the silt or deposit left by flood.

" in the mud of the flood," and he did not mention (the words narrated) after it.

I recognise the last of the inhabitants of Fire to be taken out thereof. A man will come out of it crawling. It will be said to him: Go and enter Paradise. He (the Holy Prophet) said: He would go there to enter Paradise, but would find persons who have already occupied all its apartments. It would be said to him: Do you recall the time when you were in it (in the Hell)? He would say: Yes. It would be said to him: Express any desire. And he would express the desire. It would be said to him: For thee is that which thou desireth and ten times the world (worldly resources). He (the Holy Prophet) said: He would say: Art Thou making a fun of me, though Thou art the King? I saw the Messenger of Allah laugh till his front teeth were visible.

Verily the Messenger of Allah said: The last to enter Paradise would be a man who would walk once and stumble once and be burnt by the Fire once. Then when he gets beyond it, he will turn to it and say: Blessed is He Who has saved me from thee. Allah has given me something He has not given to any one of those in earlier or later times. Then a tree would be raised up for him and he will say: O my Lord I bring me near this tree so that I may take shelter in its shade and drink of its water. Allah, the Exalted and Great, would say: O son of Adam, if I grant you this, you will ask Me for something else. He would say: No. my Lord. And he would promise Him that he would not ask for anything else. His Lord would excuse him because He sees what he cannot help desiring; so He would bring him near it, and he would take shelter in its shade and drink of its water. Afterwards a tree more beautiful than the first would be raised up before him and he would say: O my Lord! bring me near this tree in order that I may drink of its water and take shelter in its shade and I shall not ask Thee for anything else. He (Allah) would say: O son of Adam, if I bring you near it you may ask me for something else. He would promise Him that he would not ask for anything else. His Lord will excuse him because He would see something he cannot help desiring. So He would bring him near it and he would enjoy its shade and drink its water. Then a tree would be raised up for him at the gate of the Paradise, more beautiful than the first two. He would say: O my Lord! bring me near this (tree) so that I may enjoy its shade and drink from its water. I shall not ask Thee for anything else. He (Allah) would say: O son of Adam! did you not promise Me that you would not ask Me anything else? He would say: Yes, my Lord, but I shall not ask Thee for anything else. His Lord would excuse him for He sees something the temptation of which he could not resist. He (Allah) would bring him near to it, and when He would bring him near it he would hear the voices of the inhabitants of the Paradise. He would say: O my Lord! admit me to it. He (Allah) would say: O son of Adam, what will bring an end to your requests to Me? Will it please you if I give you the whole world and a like one along with it? He will say: O my Lord! art Thou mocking at me, though Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Ibn Mas'ud laughed and asked (the hearers): Why don't you ask me what I am laughing at. They (then) said: ...

Amongst the inhabitants of Paradise the lowest in rank will be the person whose face Allah would turn away from the Fire towards the Paradise, and make a shady tree appear before him. He would say: O my Lord! direct my steps to this tree so that I (should enjoy) its shade; and the rest of the hadith is like that narrated by Ibn Mas'ud, but he did not mention:" He (Allah) would say: O son of Adam! what will bring an end to your making requests to Me" to the end of the tradition. In it, he added: Allah will remind him: Ask such and such, and when his expectations would be realised, Allah would say: That is for you, and ten times as much. He said that he would then enter his house and his two wives with large and dark eyes would enter after him. They will say: Praise be to Allah, Who has created you for us and us for you. He will say: No one has been given the like of what I have been given.

Moses asked his Lord: Who amongst the inhabitants of Paradise is the lowest to rank? He (Allah) said: The person who would be admitted into Paradise last of all among those deserving of Paradise who are admitted to it. I would be said to him: Enter Paradise. He would say: O my Lord! how (should I enter) while the people have settled in their apartments and taken the shares (portions)? It would be said to him: Would you be pleased if there be for you like the kingdom of a king amongst the kings of the world? He would say: I am pleased my Lord. He (Allah) would say: For you is that, and like that, and like that, and like that, and that. He would say at the fifth (point): I am well pleased. My Lord. He (Allah) would say: It is for you and, ten times like it, and for you is what your self desires and your eye enjoys. He would say: I am well pleased, my Lord. He (Moses) said: (Which is) the highest of their (inhabitants of Paradise) ranks? He (Allah) said: They are those whom I choose. I establish their honour with My own hand and then set a seal over it (and they would be blessed with Bounties) which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no human mind has perceived: and this is sub- stantiated by the Book of Allah, Exalted and Great:" So no soul knows what delight of the eye is hidden for them; a reward for what they did" (xxxii. 17).

Allah will bring out people from the Fire and admit them into Paradise.

I said to 'Amr b. Dinar: Did you hear Jabir b. 'Abdullah narrating from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) that Allah would bring out people from the Fire through intercession. He said: Yes.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Verily people would be brought out from the Fire, and they would be burnt except the exterior (surfaces, fronts) of their faces; and they would enter Paradise.

This view of the Khawarij (i.e. those who commit major sins and would be eternally doomed to Hell) had obsessed me, and we set out in a large group intending to perform the Hajj and then going to the people (for the propagation of the views of the Khawarij). He (the narrator) said: We happened to past by Medina and found there Jabir b. 'Abdullah sitting near a column narrating to the people (the ahadith of) the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him). When he mentioned the inhabitants of Hell, I said: O companion of the Messenger of Allah what is this that you narrate, whereas Allah says: "Verily whomsoever Thou shall commit to the Fire, Thou indeed humiliateth him" (al-Qur'an, iii. 192); and All those who endeavored to get out of that would be thrown back into it" (al-Qur'an, xxxi i. 20)? So what is it that you say? He said: Have you read the Qur'an? I said: Yes. He said: Have you heard about the (exalted) position of Muhammad (may peace be upon him), i.e. to which Allah would raise, him? I said: Yes. He said: Verily the position of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) is that of great glory and that is by which Allah would bring out whomsoever He would wish to bring out. He then described the Path (the Bridge) and the passing of the people over it, and said: I am afraid I may not have remembered (other things) but this much is still in my memory that people would come out of the Hell after having gone into it, and he said: They would come out of it as if they were the wood of the ebony tree. He (the narrator said: They would enter a river, one or the rivers of Paradise, and would bathe in it, and then come out as if they were (white like) paper. We then turned back and said: Woe be upon you! How can this old man tell a lie against the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)? We turned back (from the views of the Khawarij), and by God every one of us abandoned this (band of Khawarij) except one man. A similar statement has been made by Abu Nu'aim.

Four persons would be brought out from the Fire and would be presented to Allah. One of them would turn (towards the He) ) ) and say: O my Lord, when Thou hast brought me out from it, do not throw me back into it, and Allah would rescue him from it.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The believers would gather on the Day of Resurrection, and they would be concerned about it, or would be made mindful of it (i. e. the trjuble for it), (and the remaining part of the hadith w, ) uld be narrated) like the one transmitted by Abu Uwana, and he said in the hadith: Then I would come for the fourth time, or I would return the fourth time, and would say: O my Lord, no one has been left but he whom the Holy Qur'an has restrained.

The Prophet of Allah (may peace be, upon him) said: Allah will gather the believers on the Day of Resurrection and they would be made mindful of it; and the rest (of the hadith) is like the one narrated above; and then he mentioned the fourth time: And I (the Holy Prophet) would say: O my Lord, no one is left in the Fire except he whom the Qur'an has restrained, i e. eternally doomed.

Verily the Apostle (may peace be upon him) said: He who professed: There is no god but Allah, would be brought out of the Fire even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of a barley grain. Then he who professed: There is no god but Allah, would come out of the Fire, even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of a wheat grain. He would then bring out from the Fire he who professed: There is no god but Allah, even though he has in his heart virtue equal to the weight of an atom. Ibn Minhal has made an addition (of these words) in his narration: Yazid said: I met Shu'ba and narrated to him this hadith. Shu'ba said: Qatada transmitted to us this hadith from Anas b. Malik who heard it from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) with this alteration that he substituted the word Zurra (grain) in place of Zarra (atom). Yazid said: Abu Bistam has made a change in it.

We went to Anas b. Malik through Thabit and reached there (his house) while he was offering the forenoon prayer. Thabit sought permission for us and we entered, and he seated Thabit with him on his bedstead. He (Thabit) said to him (Anas b. Malik): O Abu Hamza (kunya of Anas b. Malik), your brothers from among the inhabitants of Basra ask you to narrate to them the hadith of intercession. He said: Muhammad (may peace be upon him) narrated to us: When it would be the Day of Resurrection, some of the people would rush to one another in bewilderment. They would come to Adam and say: Intercede (with your Lord) for your progeny. He would say: I am not fit to do this, but go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) for he is the Friend of Allah. They would come to Ibrahim, but he would say: I am not fit to do this, but go to Moses, for he is Allah's Interlocutor. They would come to Moses, but he would say: I am not fit to do this, but you should go to Jesus, for he is the Spirit of Allah and His word. They would come to Jesus, and he would say, I am not fit to do this; you better go to Muhammad (may peace be upon him). They would come to me, and I would say: I am in a position to do that, I would go and ask the permission of my Lord and it would be granted to me. I would then stand before Him and would extol Him with praises which I am not able to do now, but with which Allah would inspire me, then I would fall in prostration and it would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise thy head, and say and it would be listened to; ask and it would be granted, intercede and it would be accepted. I shall say: My Lord, my people, my people It would be said: Go, and bring forth from it (Hell) him who has in his heart faith equal to the weight of a wheat grain or a barley seed. I would go and do that; then I would return to my Lord and extol Him with those praises (taught to me by Allah), then I would fall in prostration. It would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise your head, and say and it would be heard; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. So I would say: My people. my people. It would be said to me: Go and take out from it (Hell) him who has in his heart faith equal to the weight of a mustard seed. I would go and do that. I would again return to my Lord and extol Him with those praises. I would then fall in prostration. It would be said to me: O Muhammad, raise your head: say, and you would be listened to; ask and ...

I would be the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. He then sliced (that meat) for the second time and said: I am the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. When he saw that his companions did not ask him (about this assertion) he said: Why don't you say: How would that be? They said: How would be it, Messenger of Allah? He said: People would stand before the Lord of the worlds. And the rest of the hadith was narrated like the one transmitted by Abu Hayyan, on the authority of Abu Zur'a, and in the story of Ibrahim, this addition was made. He said and made mention of his words with regard to the star: This is my Lord. And his words with regard to their gods: But the big among them has done that. And his words: I am ailing. He (the Holy Prophet) said: By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Muhammad, the distance between two leaves of the door from their supporting frames is as the distance between Mecca and Hajar or Hajar and Mecca. I do not remember how he said it (whether Mecca and Hajar or Hajar and Mecca).

Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, would gather people. The believers would stand till the Paradise would be brought near them. They would come to Adam and say: O our father, open for us the Paradise. He would say: What turned ye out from the Paradise was the sin of your father Adam. I am not in a position to do that; better go to my son Ibrahim, the Friend of Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: He (Ibrahim) would say: I am not in a position to do that. Verily I had been the Friend (of Allah) from beyond, beyond; you better approach Moses (peace be upon him) with whom Allah conversed. They would come to Moses (peace be upon him), but he would say: I am not in a position to do that; you better go to Jesus, the Word of Allah and His Spirit. Jesus (peace be upon him) would say: I am not in a position to do that. So they would come to Muhammad (may peace be upon him). He would then be permitted (to open the door of Paradise). Trustworthiness and kinship would be despatched, and these would stand on the right and left of the Path and the first of you would pass with (the swiftness) of lightning. He (the narrator) said: I said, O thou who art far dearer to me than my father and my mother I which thing is like the passing of lightning? He said: Have you not seen lightning, how it passes and then comes back within the twinkling of an eye? Then (they would pass) like the passing of the wind, then like the passing of a bird, and the hastening of persons would be according to their deeds, and your Apostle would be standing on the Path saying: Save, O my Lord, save. (The people would go on passing) till the deeds of the servants would be failing in strength, till a man would come who would find it hard to go along (that Path) but crawlingly. He (the narrator) said: And on the sides of the Path hooks would be suspended ready to catch anyone whom these would be required (to catch). There would be those who would somehow or other succeed in trasversing that Path and some would be piled up in Hell. By Him in Whose Hand is the life of Abu Huraira it would take one seventy years to fathom the depth of Hell.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Amongst the apostles I would have the largest following on the Day of Resurrec tion, and I would be the first to knock at the door of Paradise.

The Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I would be the first intercessor in the Paradise and no apostle amongst the apostles has been testified (by such a large number of people) as I have been testified. And verily there woald be an apostle among the apostles who would be testified to by only one man from his people.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: I will come to the gate of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. and would seek its opening. and the keeper would say: Who art thou? I would say: Muhammad. He would then say: It is for thee that I have been ordered, and not to open it for anyone before thee.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer, and I intend (if Allah so willed) that I would reserve my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

Abu Huraira said to Ka'b al-Ahbar that the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) had said: For every apostle there Is a (special) prayer by which he would pray (to his Lord). I, however, intend (if Allah so willed) that I would reserve my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection. Ka'b said to Abu Huraira: Did you hear this from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)? Abu Huraira said: Yes.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: Every Messenger is endowed with a prayer which is granted and by which he would (pray to his Lord) and it would he granted for him. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummab on the Day of Resurrection.

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There was for every apostle a prayer with which he prayed for his Ummah and it was granted to him; but I wish, if Allah so wills, to defer my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

" He was endowed," and in the hadith reported by Abu Usama (the words are):" It is reported from the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him)."

Mu'tamir narrated to us on the authority of his father who transmitted it liom Anas that verity the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said, and then narrated the hadith like the one transmitted by Qatada on the authority of Anas.

For every apostle was a prayer with which he prayed (to his Lord) for his Ummah, but I have reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

Verily the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) recited the words of Allah, the Great and Glorious, that Ibrahim uttered. My Lord! lo! they have led many of mankind astray:" But whoso followeth me, he verily is of me" (al-Qur'an, xiv. 35) and Jesus (peace be upon him) said:" If thou punisheth them, lo! they are Thy slaves, and if Thou forgiveth them-verily Thou art the Mighty, the Wise" (al-Qur'an, v 117). Then he raised his hands and said: O Lord, my Ummah, my Ummah, and wept; so Allah the High and the Exalted said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad (though your Lord knows it fully well) and ask him: What makes thee weep? So Gabriel (peace be upon him) came to him and asked him, and the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) informed him what he had said (though Allah knew it fully well). Upon this Allah said: O Gabriel, go to Muhammad and say: Verily We will please thee with regard to your Ummah and would not displease thee.

Verily, a person said: Messenger of Allah, where is my father? He said: (He) is in the Fire. When he turned away, he (the Holy Prophet) called him and said: Verily my father and your father are in the Fire.

" And warn thy nearest kindred," the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) stood up on Safa' and said: O Fatima, daughter of Muhammad. O Safiya, daughter of 'Abd al-Muttalib, O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib. I have nothing which can avail you against Allah; you may ask me what you want of my worldly belongings.