I Saw a Man From My People
excerpt from 'al-Wabil al-Sayyib' 'The Invocation of God' (p. 107-109)
by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya

This hadîth from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib from Abd al-Rahman ibn Samra ibn Jundub, who said that one day as they were seated on the steps of Madinah, the Messenger of Allah (salAllahu alayhi wasalam) came out stood before them and said:



‘I saw something significant last night. I saw a man from my people as the angel of death came to take his soul. The goodness he had shown his parents came to him and turned back the angel of death.

I saw a man from my people as the punishment of the grave loomed before him. His ablution came and rescued him from it.

I saw a man from my people, as devils surrounded him. The remembrance of God came to him and drove them away.

I saw a man from my people as the angels of punishment surrounded him. His prayer came to him and saved him from their grips.

I saw a man from my people who was perishing from thirst. Every time he approached the pond, he was held back and driven away. His fasting during Ramadhaan came to him, gave him water and quenched his thirst.

I saw a man from my people, and I saw the prophets sitting in circles, one after another. Each time he approached one of the circles he was driven away. His greater ablution came to him, took him by the hand and seated him at my side.

I saw a man from my people when there was darkness before him, behind him, on his right and on his left, above and beneath him. He moved aimlessly in its midst. And then his pilgrimages – the lesser and the greater – came to him, took him out of that darkness and brought him into the light.

I saw a man from my people protecting himself with his hand from the fumes of the fire and its harm. His charity cam to him and shielded him from the fire, spreading out over his head.

I saw a man from my people who was speaking to the believers, but they were not speaking to him. Then the good relations he had kept with his relatives came to him and said, “O assembly of Muslims, this man kept his ties with his relatives, so speak to him.” And they spoke to him, shook his hand and he shook theirs.

I saw a man from my people surrounded by the demons of hell. His enjoining fairness and forbiddance of evil came to him and rescued him from their grip; they brought him to God Most High.

I saw a man from my people whose right hand had lost the scroll. There came to him his fear of God Almighty; it took the scroll and placed it in his right hand.

I saw a man from my people whose scale was light [in good deeds], and there came to him those members of his family he had lost, and this weighed down the scale.

I saw a man from my people standing on the brink of Hell, and there cam to him his hope in God Almighty. It rescued him from Hell and he passed on.

I saw a man from my people who had been put in the fire, and there came to him tears he had shed in reverent fear of God Almighty. They rescued him from the Fire.

I saw a man from my people standing on the bridge, tossing about like a palm tree in a storm. His hope in God came to him. It steaded him and he walked [across].

I saw a man from my people advancing over the bridge, sometimes crawling, sometimes clinging to it. The blessings he had invoked upon me came to him. It set him on his two feet and saved him.

I saw a man from my people who had come to the gates of heaven and found all of them locked. His testimony – “There is no deity but God” – came to him, opened the gates for him and led him into heaven.
[at-Tirmidhi]