Hadith #468

Arabic Text

English Translation

Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us, jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed us, he said: I heard Abū Rajā’ al-‘Uṭāridī narrating from Samurah ibn Jundub, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, whenever he prayed the morning prayer, would turn to face us and say: ‘Did any of you see a dream last night?’ And if anyone had seen a dream that night, they would narrate it to him, and he would say about it whatever Allah willed him to say. One day he asked us and said: ‘Did any of you see a dream last night?’ We said: No. He said: ‘But I saw (a dream): two men came to me, took me by the hands, and took me out to an open expanse of land. They passed by me over a man lying on his back with another man standing at his head holding an iron hook, inserting it into his cheek, tearing it open until it reached the back of his neck, then pulling it out and inserting it into the other cheek — and that cheek would heal — and he was doing this to him. I said: What is this? They said: Move on. So I moved on with them. Then we came to a man lying on his back with another man standing at his head holding a rock or boulder, smashing his head with it. The rock would roll away, and when he went to retrieve it, the head would return as it was, and he would do the same again. I said: What is this? They said to me: Move on. So I moved on with them. Then there was a structure built like a furnace (tannūr), wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, with fire kindled beneath it. In it were naked men and women. When the fire flared up, they were raised until they nearly came out, and when it died down, they returned into it. I said: What is this? They said to me: Move on. So I moved on. Then there was a river of blood, in which a man was swimming, and on the bank of the river stood another man who had stones before him. The man swimming in the river would come toward him to exit, and he would throw a stone into his mouth, forcing him back to his place, and he kept doing this to him. I said: What is this? They said: Move on. So I moved on. Then there was a lush green garden with a great tree in it, and at its base sat an old man with children around him. Near him was a man with a fire before him, tending and stoking it. The two men then took me up into the tree and brought me into a house — I had never seen a finer house — in it were old men, young men, women, and children. Then they took me out of it and ascended with me further into the tree and brought me into another house, which was finer and grander than the first, with old men and young men in it. I said to them: You have taken me around all night — tell me about what I have seen. They said: Yes. As for the first man you saw, whose cheek was being torn: he was a liar who would tell a lie that would spread to all horizons, and this is what shall be done to him until the Day of Resurrection, then Allah تبارك وتعالى will do with him as He wills. As for the man lying on his back: he was a man to whom Allah تبارك وتعالى gave the Qur’ān, and he slept through the night without practicing it and did not act by it during the day — and this is what shall be done to him until the Day of Resurrection. As for those in the furnace: they are the fornicators. As for the one in the river: that is the consumer of ribā (usury). As for the old man at the base of the tree: that is Ibrāhīm عليه السلام. As for the children around him: they are the children of people (who died in infancy). As for the man tending the fire: that is Mālik, the keeper of the Fire. That fire is the Fire. As for the first house you entered: that is the house of the general believers. As for the other house: that is the house of the martyrs. I am Jibrīl, and this is Mīkā’īl. Then they said to me: Raise your head. I raised my head, and there was something like clouds. They said to me: That is your house. I said to them: Let me enter my house. They said to me: You still have deeds remaining that you have not completed; had you completed them, you would have entered your house.’