Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah narrated from Qatādah, from Anas, from Mālik ibn Ṣaʿṣaʿah, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“While I was at the House, midway between sleep and wakefulness, I heard someone say, ‘He is the third among the two men.’ I was approached, then led away, and a golden basin filled with Zamzam water was brought to me. My chest was split open as far as—” Qatādah said, “I asked my companion, ‘What does he mean?’ and he answered, ‘As far as the lower part of his abdomen.’ —‘My heart was taken out, washed with Zamzam, put back in its place, and packed’—or he said: ‘filled’—‘with faith and wisdom’ (Saʿīd was uncertain about the wording). ‘Then a white mount called al-Burāq was brought to me, larger than a donkey yet smaller than a mule; each stride reached the farthest point the creature could see. I mounted it, my companion never leaving my side, and we travelled until we reached the lowest heaven.’

He carried on with the narration exactly as in the report of Hammām, up to the words, ‘the Oft-Frequented House,’ adding: ‘Every day seventy thousand angels enter it, and once they leave they never return to it again.’

I say: This additional phrase is also reported by Hammām, and he is more precise than Ibn Abī ʿArūbah, for he said: Qatādah told us that al-Ḥasan related from Abū Hurayrah that he saw the House: seventy thousand angels enter it each day and never go back to it afterwards. He then resumed the narration of Anas. In Ibn Abī ʿArūbah’s version it also states, ‘at the lote-tree of the utmost boundary, whose leaves are like elephant ears,’ and his wording continues:

‘Then I passed by Moses, who asked, “What have you been commanded?” I replied, “Fifty prayers.” He said, “I tested people before you and strove hard with the Children of Israel. Your community will not be able to bear that; return to your Lord and ask Him to lighten it for your community.” So I went back, and five prayers were removed. I continued to go back and forth between my Lord and Moses; whenever I came upon him he repeated the same words, until I returned with five prayers each day. When I passed by Moses he said again what he had said before. I replied, “I have returned to my Lord so often that I am now ashamed, but I accept and submit.” Then a caller proclaimed, “I have confirmed My decree, lightened it for My servants, and for every…’”