and then he said, “I am the leader of humankind on the Day of Resurrection. Do you know why that is? Allah will gather the first and the last upon one vast plain; those who are near will hear them, and every eye will take them in.” He then narrated the lengthy hadith of intercession in full. Agreed upon.

Layth ibn Saʿd related, through Ibn al-Hād, from ʿAmr ibn Abī ʿAmr, from Anas, who said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ declare, “I shall be the first for whom the earth is cleft open on the Day of Resurrection—and this is no boast. I have been given the Banner of Praise—and this is no boast. And I am the leader of humankind on the Day of Resurrection—and this is no boast.” He then proceeded to recount the entire hadith on intercession.

There is also the hadith of Ibn ʿAbbās on this topic.

Numerous reports convey this meaning, and the Qur’an contains many verses exalting the rank of the Chosen One ﷺ.

Abū al-Jawzāʾ narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: “Allah has not created any being more beloved to Him than Muhammad ﷺ, and I have never heard Allah swear by the life of anyone but his, when He said: ‘By your life, they were lost in their drunken wandering’ (Q 15:72).”

In the Ṣaḥīḥ there is a narration of Qatādah from Anas in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “While I was sleeping I beheld myself walking in Paradise, and there I saw a river whose banks were domes of hollow pearl. I asked, ‘What is this, O Gabriel?’ He replied, ‘This is al-Kawthar which Allah has granted you.’ Then the angel struck his hand into it, and its soil was pure, fragrant musk.”

Al-Zuhrī narrated from Anas that the Prophet ﷺ said: “My basin is as wide as the distance between Ṣanʿāʾ and Aylah, and it holds pitchers as numerous as the stars in the sky.”

Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb said: Abū al-Khayr told us that he heard ʿUqbah ibn