Hadith #398

Arabic Text

English Translation

Muḥammad ibn Ja‘far narrated to us, ‘Awf narrated to us, from Abū Rajā’ al-‘Uṭāridī, who said: Samurah ibn Jundub al-Fazārī narrated to us, who said: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ would often say to his Companions: ‘Has anyone among you seen a dream?’ Whoever Allāh willed would relate [his dream] to him. One morning he said to us: ‘Two visitors came to me last night. They woke me and said to me: Set out! So I set out with them. We came upon a man lying down, and another standing over him with a rock. He was striking his head with the rock, smashing it. The rock would roll away, and he would follow it to retrieve it. By the time he returned, the man’s head would be restored as it was, and he would do the same thing again. I said: Subḥān Allāh! What are these two? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and came upon a man lying on his back, with another standing over him with an iron hook. He would come to one side of his face and tear his cheek to the back of his head, and his nostril to the back of his head, and his eye to the back of his head. Then he would move to the other side and do the same. He would not finish with that side before the first side would be restored. Then he would do the same again. I said: Subḥān Allāh! What are these two? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and came upon something like a structure of an oven.’ ‘Awf said: I think he said: ‘And there was noise and voices in it. I looked in and there were naked men and women. A flame was coming at them from below, and when it reached them they cried out. I said: Who are these? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and came upon a river — I think he said: red as blood — and in the river was a man swimming. Then he would come to another man who had gathered stones, and [the man with stones] would open his mouth and force-feed him a stone. Then he would swim away, and every time he came back, his mouth would be opened and he would be fed a stone. I said: What is this? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and came upon a man of hideous appearance, as ugly as you have ever seen. He was by a fire, stoking it and running around it. I said to them: What is this? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and came upon a lush, green garden with every kind of spring blossom. In the middle of the garden was a man so tall I could barely see his head in the sky. Around the man were the most children I have ever seen, and the most beautiful. I said: What is this, and who are these? They said: Move on, move on! So we moved on and reached a great tree, the greatest and most beautiful I have ever seen. They said: Climb it. So we climbed it and reached a city built of gold and silver bricks. We came to its gate and asked for it to be opened. It was opened and we entered. In it we met men, half of their forms as beautiful as you have ever seen, and half as ugly as you have ever seen. They said to them: Go and fall into that river. There was a small river running across, as white as pure milk. They went and fell into it, then returned to us, and that ugliness had left them, and they were in the most beautiful form. They said to me: This is the Garden of Eden, and that is your abode. My gaze rose upward, and there was a palace like a white cloud. They said: That is your abode. I said: May Allāh bless you both. Let me enter it. They said: Not now, but you shall enter it. I said: I have seen wonders tonight. What is all this that I have seen? They said: We shall tell you. As for the first man whose head was being smashed with a rock, he is a man who takes the Qur’ān and rejects it, and sleeps through the obligatory prayers. As for the man whose cheek was being torn to the back of his head, his eyes and nostrils likewise, he is a man who leaves his house in the morning and tells a lie that spreads to the horizons. As for the naked men and women in the structure like an oven, they are the fornicators and adulteresses. As for the man swimming in the river and being fed stones, he is the consumer of ribā (usury). As for the hideous man by the fire stoking it, he is Mālik, the keeper of Hellfire. As for the tall man in the garden, he is Ibrāhīm عليه السلام. As for the children around him, every child who dies upon the fiṭrah (natural disposition).’ Some of the Muslims said: ‘O Messenger of Allāh, even the children of the polytheists?’ The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: ‘Even the children of the polytheists.’ As for the people who were half beautiful and half ugly, they are people who mixed righteous deeds with evil ones, and Allāh pardoned them.” I [Ādam] heard from ‘Abbād ibn ‘Abbād reporting it from ‘Awf, from Abū Rajā’, from Samurah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said: ‘The rock would roll away’ — [Imam Aḥmad’s] father said: I was amazed at the eloquence of ‘Abbād.