I know the last of the inhabitants of Paradise to enter it and the last of the inhabitants of Hell to come out of it. He is a man who would be brought on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said: Present his minor sins to him, and withhold from him his serious sins. Then the minor sins would be placed before him, and it would be said: On such and such a day you did so and so and on such and such a day you did so and so. He would say: Yes. It will not be possible for him to deny, while he would be afraid lest serious sins should be presented before him. It would be said to him: In place of every evil deed you will have a good deed. He will say: My Lord! I have done things I do not see here. I indeed saw the Messenger of Allah laugh till his front teeth were exposed.

Then the people would be summoned along with their idols whom they worshipped, one after another. Then our Lord would come to us and say: Whom are you waiting for? They would say: We are waiting for our Lord. He would say: I am your Lord. They would say: (We are not sure) till we gaze at Thee, and He would manifest Himself to them smilingly, and would go along with them and they would follow Him; and every person, whether a hypocrite or a believer, would be endowed with a light, and there would be spikes and hooks on the bridge of the Hell, which would catch hold of those whom Allah willed. Then the light of the hypocrites would be extinguished, and the believers would secure salvation. and the first group to achieve it would comprise seventy thousand men who would have the brightness of full moon on their faces, and they would not be called to account. Then the people immediately following them would have their faces as the brightest stars in the heaven. This is how (the groups would follow one after another). Then the stage of intercession would come, and they (who are permitted to intercede) would intercede, till he who had declared:" There is no god but Allah" and had in his heart virtue of the weight of a barley grain would come out of the Fire. They would be then brought in the courtyard of Paradise and the inhabitants of Paradise would begin to sprinkle water over them till they would sprout like the sprouting of a thing in flood water, and their burns would disappear. They would ask their Lord till they would be granted (the bounties) of the world and with it ten more besides it.

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: Allah would gather people on the Day of Resurrection and they would be concerned about it, and Ibn Ubaid said. They would get a Divine inspiration about it, and would say: If we could seek intercession with our Lord, we may be relieved from this predicament of ours. He (the Holy Prophet) said: They would come to Adam andsay, Thou art Adam, the father of mankind. Allah created thee with His own hand and breathed unto thee of His Spirit and commanded the angels and they prostrated before thee. So intercede for us with thy Lords, that He may relieve us from this position of ours. He would say: I am not in a position to do this, and would recall his error, and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that; go to Noah the first messenger (after me) sent by Allah. He (the Holy Prophet) said: So they would come to Noah (peace be upon him). He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and recall his fault which he had committed, and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that, (and would say): You better go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) whom Allah took for a friend. They would come to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and he would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and would recall his fault that he had committed and would, therefore, fight shy of his Lord on that account (and would say): You better go to Moses (peace be upon him) with whom Allah conversed and con- ferred Torah upon him. He (the Holy Prophet) said: So they would come to Moses (peace be upon him) He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you, and would recall his fault that he had committed and would fight shy of his Lord on account of that (and would say): You better go to Jesus, the Spirit of Allah and His word He would say: I am not in a position to do that for you; you better go to Muhammad (may peace be upon him), a servant whose former and later sins have been forgiven. He (the narrator) said: The Messenger or Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: So they would come to me and I would ask the permission of my Lord and it would be granted to me, and when I would see Him, I would fall down in prostration, and He (Allah) would leave me thus as long as He would wish, and then it would be said: O Muhammad, raise your head, say and you would be heard; ask and it would be granted; intercede and intercession would be accepted. Then I would raise my head and extrol my Lord with the praise ...

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 ...

Meat was one day brought to the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) and a foreleg was offered to him, a part which he liked. He sliced with his teeth a piece out of it and said: I shall be the leader of mankind on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why? Allah would gather in one plain the earlier and the later (of the human race) on the Day of Resurrection. Then the voice of the proclaimer would be heard by all of them and the eyesight would penetrate through all of them and the sun would come near. People would then experience a degree of anguish, anxiety and agony which they shall not be able to bear and they shall not be able to stand. Some people would say to the others: Don you see in which trouble you are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken you? Why don't you find one who should intercede for you with your Lord? Some would say to the others: Go to Adam. And they would go to Adam and say: O Adam, thou art the father of mankind. Allah created thee by His own Hand and breathed in thee of His spirit and ordered the angels to prostrate before thee. Intercede for us with thy Lord Don't you see in what (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? Adam would say: Verily, my Lord is angry, to an extent to which He had never been angry before nor would He be angry afterward. Verily, He forbade me (to go near) that tree and I disobeyed Him. I am concerned with my own self. Go to someone else; go to Noah. They would come to Noah and would say: O Noah, thou art the first of the Messengers (sent) on the earth (after Adam), and Allah named thee as a" Grateful Servant," intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see in what (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? He would say: Verily, my Lord is angry today as He had never been angry before, and would never be angry afterwards. There had emanated a curse from me with which I cursed my people. I am concerned with only myself, I am concerned only with myself; you better go to Ibrahim (peace be upon him). They would go to Ibrahim and say: Thou art the apostle of Allah and His Friend amongst the inhabitants of the earth; intercede for us with thy Lord. Don't you see in which (trouble) we are? Don't you see what (misfortune) has overtaken us? Ibrahim would say to them: Verily, my Lord is today angry as He had never been angry before and would never be angry afterwards. and (Ibrahim) would mention his lies (and then say): I am concerned ...

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: I would be the first among people to intercede in the Paradise and amongst the apostles I would have the largest following (on the Day of Resurrection).

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.

Verity the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a (special) prayer with which he would pray. I wish I could reserve, my prayer for intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection.

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 Prophet of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer which is granted, but every prophet showed haste in his prayer. I have, however, reserved my prayer for the intercession of my Ummah on the Day of Resurrection, and it would be granted, if Allah so willed, in case of everyone amongst my Ummah provided he dies without associating anything with Allah.

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.

Verily the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: There is for every apostle a prayer with which he prays (to Allah) for his Ummah. I have reserved 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.

When this verse was revealed:" And warn thy nearest kindred (al-Qur'an, xxvi. 214), the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) called the Quraish; so they gathered and he gave them a general warning. Then he made a particular (reference to certain tribes) and said: O sons of Ka'b b. Luwayy, rescue yourselves from the Fire; O sons of Murra b. Ka'b, rescue yourselves from the Fire: O sons of Abd Shams, rescue yourselves from the Fire; 0 sons of Abd Manaf rescue yourselves from the Fire; O sons of Hashim, rescue yourselves from the Fire; 0 sons of Abd al-Muttalib, rescue yourselves from the Fire; O Fatimah, rescue thyself from the Fire, for I have no power (to protect you) from Allah in anything except this that I would sustain relationship with you.

" 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.

When (this verse) was revealed to him:" Warn your nearest kinsmen." the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: O people of Quraish, buy yourselves from Allah, I cannot avail you at all against Allah; O sons of Abd al-Muttalib. I cannot avail you at all against Allah; 0 Abbas b. 'Abd al- Muttalib, I cannot avail you at all against Allah; O Safiya (aunt of the Messenger of Allah), I cannot avail you at all against Allah; 0 Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, ask me whatever you like, but I cannot avail you at all against Allah.

When this verse was revealed:" And warn thy nearest kindred," the Apostle of Allah (may peace be upon him) set off towards a rock of the hill and ascended the highest of the rocks and then called: 0 sons of 'Abd Manaf! I am a warner; my similitude and your similitude is like a man who saw the enemy and went to guard his people, but, being afraid they might get there before him, he shouted: Be on your guard!

" And warn thy nearest kindred" (and thy group of selected people among them) the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) set off till he climbed Safa' and called loudly: Be on your guard! They said: Who is it calling aloud? They said: Muhammad. They gathered round him, and he said: O sons of so and so, O sons of so and so, O sons of 'Abd Manaf, O sons of 'Abd al-Muttalib, and they gathered around him. He (the Apostle) said: If I were to inform you that there were horsemen emerging out of the foot of this mountain, would you believe me? They said: We have not experienced any lie from you. He said: Well, I am a warner to you before a severe torment. He (the narrator) said that Abu Lahab then said: Destruction to you! Is it for this you have gathered us? He (the Holy Prophet) then stood up, and this verse was revealed:" Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and he indeed perished" (cxi. 1). A'mash recited this to the end of the Sura.

One day the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) climbed the hill of Safa' and said: Be on your guard, and the rest of the hadith was narrated like the hadith transmitted by Usama; he made no mention of the revelation of the verse:" Warn thy nearest kindred."

Messenger of Allah, have you benefited Abu Talib in any way for he defended you and was fervent in your defence? The Messenger of Allah (may peace he upon him) said: Yes; he would be in the most shallow part of the Fire and were not for me, he would have been in the bottom-most depth of Hell.

I heard Abbas say: I said: Messenger of Allah, verily Abu Talib defended you and helped you; would it be beneficial for him? He (the Holy Prophet) said: Yes; I found him in the lowest part of the Fire and I brought him to the shallow part.

A mention was made of his uncle Abu Talib before the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) He said: My intercession may benefit him on the Day of Resurrection and he may be placed in the shallow part of the Fire which would reach his ankles and his brain would be boiling.

Verily, the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: The least tormented of the inhabitants of the Fire would be he who would wear two shoes of Fire and his brain would boil on account of the heat of the shoes.

The Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: Among the inhabitants of the Fire Abu Talib would have the least suffering, and he would be wearing two shoes (of Fire) which would boil his brain.

I heard the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) say: the least suffering for the inhabitants of Hell on the Day of Resurrection would be for the man under whose soles would be placed two embers and his brain would boil on account of them.