—the fifth heaven, where I found Aaron: half of his beard was white and the other half black, and so long that it almost reached his navel. I asked, “O Gabriel, who is this?” He replied, “This is the one beloved by his people, Aaron son of ʿImrān, accompanied by a group of his followers.” I greeted him and we went on to the sixth heaven. There I beheld Moses, a dark-complexioned man with abundant hair; even if he wore two garments, his hair would still hang below them. He was saying, “People claim that I am more honored by Allah than this man, yet he is in fact more honored by Allah than I.” I asked, “Who is this?” He said, “It is Moses.”

We then ascended to the seventh heaven, where I saw Abraham leaning his back against the Oft-Visited House. I entered it, and a number of my community entered with me, all of them dressed in white. After that I was taken to the Lote Tree of the Ultimate Boundary; each of its leaves was large enough to cover this whole nation. In it there flowed a spring called Salsabīl, and from it branch two rivers—one is al-Kawthar and the other the River of Mercy. I bathed in it, and every sin I had committed, past and future, was forgiven.

Next I was brought into Paradise, where a maiden met me. I asked, “To whom do you belong?” She said, “To Zayd ibn Ḥārithah.” Then the Fire was displayed to me and quickly shut again. I was taken back to the Lote Tree of the Ultimate Boundary, and it was veiled for me when I drew near—no more than two bow-lengths, or even nearer. He said: “Upon every leaf an angel descended, and fifty prayers were made obligatory upon me.” I then returned to Moses—he recounted my repeated pleas for a reduction, and I have abridged that and other details—until I said, “I kept returning to my Lord until I was too ashamed to ask again.”

The next morning in Mecca he told them of these marvels: “Last night I was taken to the Holy House, then carried up to the heavens. I saw such-and-such, and such-and-such.” Abu Jahl said, “Are you not astonished at what Muhammad claims?”—and he related the story.

This is a singular and astonishing hadith—about half of it has been omitted. It was transmitted by Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib from ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, who is trustworthy, from Rāshid al-Ḥammānī, a well-known narrator from whom Ḥammād ibn Zayd and Ibn al-Mubārak also related. Abu