from Yahya ibn Kathir, on his authority; it is one of the singular reports found in the Sahih.

ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn ʿAqil narrated—through al-Tufayl ibn Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, from his father—that the Prophet ﷺ used to pray facing a palm-trunk and deliver the sermon beside it. When a pulpit was built for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he moved away from that trunk, it let out a bellowing sound until it cracked and split. The Prophet ﷺ came down when he heard the trunk cry out, stroked it with his hand, and then returned to the pulpit. After the mosque was later rebuilt, my father took that trunk; it remained in his house until it decayed, was eaten by termites, and turned to dust. This report is transmitted from Ibn ʿAqil through two separate routes.

Mālik ibn Abī Zanād related—on the authority of al-Aʿraj, from Abū Hurayrah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “Do you see my qiblah (direction of prayer) here? By Allah, your bowing and your prostration are not hidden from me; indeed, I see you behind my back.” Agreed upon.

Al-Shāfiʿī commented: “This is an honour from Allah by which He distinguished His Messenger, even with respect to those who were behind him.”

Al-Mukhtār ibn Fulful reported a similar narration from Anas, which adds: “For I see you from in front of me and from behind me. By Him in whose hand my soul rests, if you were to see what I have seen, you would laugh little and weep much.” They asked, “O Messenger of Allah, what have you seen?” He replied, “I saw Paradise and Hell.” Muslim recorded it.

Bishr ibn Bakr said: al-Awzāʿī told us, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: al-Qāsim ibn Muhammad informed me, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Prophet ﷺ entered while I was screened by a curtain that had images on it; he tore it down and then said: “Indeed, those who will receive the severest punishment on the Day of Resurrection…”