and Abū Ḥabbah al-Anṣārī used to say: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Then I was taken up until I reached a level where I could hear the scratching of the pens.”

Ibn Shihāb added: Ibn Ḥazm and Anas ibn Mālik reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah laid upon my community fifty prayers. I returned with that obligation until I passed by Moses, who asked, ‘What has your Lord imposed upon your community?’ I replied, ‘He has imposed fifty prayers.’ Moses said, ‘Go back to your Lord, for your community will not be able to bear that.’ So I returned to my Lord, and He reduced them by half. I went back to Moses and informed him. He said, ‘Go back to your Lord, for your community will not be able to bear that.’ I returned to my Lord, and He said, ‘They are five and yet they are fifty; My word is not changed with Me.’ I went back to Moses, who again said, ‘Return to your Lord.’ I replied, ‘I am now too ashamed before my Lord.’

“He then led me on until we reached Sidrat al-Muntahā (the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary), which was veiled in colors I cannot describe. After that I entered Paradise, where I saw domes of pearl and its soil was musk.”

This ḥadith was related to us by Yaḥyā ibn Aḥmad al-Muqriʾ in Alexandria and Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn al-Fawī in Egypt; both said: Muḥammad ibn ʿImād informed us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rifāʿah informed us; he said: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shāfiʿī informed us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUmar al-Bazzār informed us; he said: Abū Ṭāhir Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Madīnī narrated to us; he said: Abū Mūsā Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Ṣadafī narrated to us; he said:

Ibn Wahb narrated to us, saying: Yūnus informed me, and he mentioned the ḥadith in full. Muslim also transmitted it through Ḥarmalah from Ibn Wahb.