Chapter: Knowing about the seeing

The people said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): Messenger of Allah, shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Do you feel any trouble in seeing the moon on the night when it is full? They said: Messenger of Allah, no. He (the Messenger) further said: Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun, when there is no cloud over it? They said: Messenger of Allah. no. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Verily you would see Him like this (as you see the sun and the moon). God will gather people on the Day of Resurrection and say: Let every people follow what they worshipped. Those who worshipped the sun would follow the sun, and those who worshipped the moon would follow the moon, and those who worshipped the devils would follow the devils. This Ummah (of Islam) alone would be left behind and there would be hypocrites too amongst it. Allah would then come to them in a form other than His own Form, recognisable to them, and would say: I am your Lord. They would say: We take refuge with Allah from thee. We will stay here till our Lord comes to us. and when our Lord would come we would recognise Him. Subsequently Allah would come to them in His own Form, recognisable to them, and say: I am your Lord. They would say: Thou art our Lord. And they would follow Him, and a bridge would be set over the Hell; and I (the Holy Prophet) and my Ummah would be the first to pass over it; and none but the messengers would speak on that day, and the prayer of the messengers on that day would be: O Allah! grant safety, grant safety. In Hell, there would be long spits like the thorns of Sa'dan He (the Holy Prophet) said: Have you seen Sa'dan? They replied: Yes, Messenger of Allah. He said: Verily those (hooks) would be like the thorns of Sa'dan, but no one knows their size except Allah. These would seize people for their misdeeds. Some of them would escape for their (good) deeds, and some would be rewarded for their deeds till they get salvation. When Allah would finish judging His bondsmen and because of His mercy decide to take out of Hell such people as He pleases. He would command the angels to bring out those who had not associated anything with Allah; to whom Allah decided to show mercy. those who would say: There is no god but Allah. They (the angels) would recognise them in the Fire by the marks of prostration, for Hell-fire will devour everything (limb) of the sons of Adam except the marks of prostration. Allah has forbidden the fire to consume the marks of prostration. They will be taken out of the Fire having been burnt, and the water of life would be poured over them, and they will sprout as seed does In the silt carried by flood. Then Allah would finish judging amongst His bondsmen; but a man who will be the last to enter Paradise will remain facing Hell and will say: O my Lord I turn my face away from Hell, for its air has poisoned me ard its blaze has burnt me. He will then call to Allah as long as Allah would wish that he should call to Him. Then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, would say: If I did that, perhaps you would ask for more than that. He would say: I would not ask You more than this, and he would give his Lord covenants and agreements as Allah wished, and so He would turn his face away from the Fire When he turns towards the Paradise and sees it, he will remain silent as long as Allah wishes him to remain so. He will then say: O my Lord I bring me forward to the gate of the Paradise. Allah would say to him: Did you not give covenants and agreements that you would not ask for anything besides what I had given you. Woe to thee! O son of Adam, how treacherous you are! He would say: O my Lord! and would continue calling to Allah till He would say to him: If I grant you that, perhaps you will ask for more. He will reply: No, by Thy greatness, and he will give His Lord promises and covenants as Allah had wished. He would then bring him to the gate of the Paradise, and when he would stand at the gate of the Paradise, it would lay open before him. and he would see the bounty and the joy that there is in it. He would remain quiet as long as Allah would desire him to remain silent. He would then say: O my Lord, admit me to Paradise. Allah. Blessed and Exalted, would say: Did you not give covenants and agreements that you would not ask for anything more than what I had granted you? Woe to you! son of Adam, how treacherous you are! And he would say: O my Lord, I do not wish to be the most miserable of Thy creatures. He would continue calling upon Allah till Allah, Blessed and Exalted, would laugh. When Allah would laugh at him, He would say: Enter the Paradise. When he would enter, Allah would say: State your wish. He would express his wishes till Allah would remind him (the desire of) such and such (things). When his desires would be exhausted Allah would say: That is for thee and, besides it, the like of it also. 'Ata' b. Yazid said: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri was with Abu Huraira and be did not reject anything from the hadith narrated by him, but when Abu Huraira narrated:" Allah said to that man; ind its like along with it," Abu Sa'id said:" Ten like it along with it," O Abu Huraira. Abu Huraira said: I do not remember except the words:" That is for you and a similar one along with it." Abu Sa'id said: I bear witness to the fact that I remembered from the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) his words:" That is for thee and ten like it." Abu Huraira said: That man was the last of those deserving of Paradise to enter Paradise.

The people said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): 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 (ﷺ), and he narrated many of them;- one of them was: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

Some people during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said : Messenger of Allah ! shall we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection ? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said : Yes , and added : Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun at noon with no cloud over it , and do you feel trouble in seeing the moon (open) in the full moonlit night with no cloud over it ? They said : No , Messenger of Allah ! He (the Holy Prophet) said : You will not feel any trouble in seeing Allah on the Day of Resurrection any more than you do in seeing any one of them. When the Day of Resurrection comes a Mu'adhdhin (a proclaimer) would proclaim : Let every people follow what they used to worship. Then all who worshipped idols and stones besides Allah would fall into the Fire , till only the righteous and the vicious and some of the people of the Book who worshipped Allah are left. Then the Jews would be summoned , and it would be said to them : What did you worship ? They will say : We worshipped 'Uzair , son of Allah. It would be said to them : You tell a lie ; Allah had never had a spouse or a son. What do you want now ? They would say : We feel thirsty , O our Lord ! Quench our thirst. They would be directed (to a certain direction) and asked : Why don't you go there to drink water ? Then they would be pushed towards the Fire (and they would find to their great dismay that) it was but a mirage (and the raging flames of fire) would be consuming one another , and they would fall into the Fire. Then the Christians would be summoned and it would be said to them : What did you worship ? They would say : We worshipped Jesus , son of Allah. It would be said to them : You tell a lie ; Allah did not take for Himself either a spouse or a son. Then it would be said to them : What do you want ? They would say : Thirsty we are , O our Lord ! Quench our thirst. They would be directed (to a certain direction) and asked : Why don't you go there to get water ? But they would be pushed and gathered together towards the Hell , which was like a mirage to them , and the flames would consume one another. They would fall Into the Fire , till no one is left except he who worshipped Allah , be he pious or sinful. The Lord of the Universe , Glorified and Exalted , would come to them in a form recognisable to them and say ; What are you looking for ? Every people follow that which they worshipped. They would say : Our Lord , we kept ourselves separate from the people in the world , though we felt great need of them ; we , however , did not associate ourselves with them. He would say : I am your Lord. They would say : We take refuge with Allah from thee and do not associate anything with Allah. They would repeat it twice or thrice , till some of them would be about to return. It would be said : Is there any sign between you and Him by which you will recognise Him ? They would say : Yes. and the things would be laid bare. Those who used to prostrate themselves before God of their own accord would be permitted by God to prostrate themselves. But there would remain none who used to prostrate out of fear (of people) and ostentation but Allah would make his back as one piece , and whenever he would attempt to prostrate he would fall on his back. Then they would raise their heads and He would assume the Form in which they had seen Him the first time and would say : I am your Lord. They would say : Thou art our Lord. Then the bridge would be set up over the Hell and intercession would be allowed and they will say : O God , keep safe , keep safe. It was asked : Messenger of Allah , what is this bridge ? He said : The void in which one Is likely to slip. There would be hooks , tongs , spits like the thorn that is found in Najd and is known as Sa'dan. The believers would then pass over within the twinkling of an eye , like lightning , like wind , like a bird , like the finest horses and camels. Some will escape and be safe , some will be lacerated and let go , and some will be pushed into the fire of Hell till the believers will find rescue from the Fire. By One in Whose hand is my life , there will be none among you more eager to claim a right than the believers on the Day of Resurrection for (saying their) brethren in the Fire who would say : O our Lord , they were fasting along with us , and praying and performing pilgrimage. It will be said to them : Take out those whom you recognise. Then their persons would be forbidden to the Fire ; and they would take out a large number of people who had been overtaken by Fire up to the middle of the shank or up to the knees. They would then say : O our Lord I not one of those about whom Thou didst give us command remains in it. He will then say : Go back and bring out those in whose hearts you find good of the weight of a dinar Then they will take out a large number of people. Then they would say : O our Lord ! we have not left anyone about whom You commanded us. He will then say : Go back and bring out those in whose hearts you find as much as half a dinar of good. Then they will take out a large number of people , and would say : O our Lord ! not one of those about whom Thou commanded us we have left in it. Then He would say : Go back and in whose heart you find good to the weight of a particle bring him out. They would bring out a large number of people , and would then say : O our Lord , now we have not left anyone in it (Hell) having any good in him. Abu Sa'id Khudri said : If you don't testify me in this hadith , then recite if you like : " Surely Allah wrongs not the weight of an atom ; and if it is a good deed. He multiplies it and gives from Himself a great reward" (al-Qur'an , iv. 40). Then Allah , Exalted and Great , would say : The angels have interceded , the apostles have interceded and the believers have interceded , and no one remains (to grant pardon) but the Most Merciful of the mercifuls. He will then take a handful from Fire and bring out from it people who never did any good and who had been turned into charcoal , and will cast them into a river called the river of life , on the outskirts of Paradise. They will come out as a seed comes cut from the silt carried by flood. You see it near the stone or near the tree. That which is exposed to the sun is yellowish or greenish and which is under the shade is white. They said : Messenger of Allah ! it seems as if you had been tending a flock in the jungle. He (the Holy Prophet) said : They will come forth like pearls with seals on their necks. The inhabitants of Paradise would recognise them (and say) : Those are who have been set free by the Compassionate One. Who has admitted them into Paradise without any (good) deed that they did or any good that they sent in advance Then He would say : Enter the Paradise ; whatever you see in it is yours. They would say : O Lord , Thou hast bestowed upon us (favours) which Thou didst not bestow upon anyone else in the world. He would say : There is with Me (a favour) for you better than this. They would say : O our Lord ! which thing is better than this ? He would say : It is My pleasure. I will never be angry with you after this. It is narrated on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri : We said : Messenger of Allah , shall we see our Lord ? The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) 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.

Abu Bakr b. Abi Shaiba , Ja'far b. 'Aun , Hisham b. Sa'd , Zaid b. Aslam narrated the hadith as transmitted by Hafs b. Maisara , with certain additions and omissions.