Paradise, and as for the two that are visible, they are the Nile and the Euphrates. Next the Oft-Frequented House was raised before me. [I was then presented with a vessel of wine, a vessel of milk, and a vessel of honey], and I chose the milk. He said, “This is the fitrah (innate disposition) upon which you and your community stand.” He continued: “Then prayer was made obligatory for me—fifty prayers every day. I returned and passed by Moses, who asked, ‘What have you been commanded?’ I replied, ‘Fifty prayers each day.’ He said, ‘Your community will never be able to bear that. I have experienced people before you and dealt with the Children of Israel with the utmost effort. Go back to your Lord and ask Him to lighten it for your community.’

So I returned, and ten were taken off. I went back to Moses, who asked, ‘What were you commanded?’ I said, ‘Forty prayers a day.’ He said, ‘Your community will not be able to endure that; return to your Lord and ask Him to lessen it.’ I returned, and another ten were removed, after which I returned to Moses.”

He went on with the narration until he said: “Your community will not manage even five prayers a day. I have experienced people before you and dealt with the Children of Israel with the utmost effort. Go back to your Lord and ask Him to lighten it.” I said, “I have asked my Lord so much that I now feel shy, but I accept and submit.” When I moved on, a caller proclaimed, “I have established My obligation and reduced it for My servants.”

Al-Bukhari recorded this ḥadīth, transmitted by Hudbah from him.

Muʿādh ibn Hishām said: My father related to me, from Qatādah, who said: Anas narrated to us, from Mālik ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿa, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said—reporting something similar, and he added: “I was brought a basin of gold filled with wisdom and faith. He split me from the collarbone down to the lower abdomen, washed the cavity with Zamzam water, and then filled it with wisdom and faith.” Muslim recorded the entire report.