“…whatever punishment You had destined for me in the Hereafter, hasten it for me in this world.”
The Prophet answered, “Glory be to Allah! You could not endure that—you would never be able to bear it. Why did you not say: ‘Our Lord, grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and protect us from the torment of the Fire’?”
Likewise, when Jābir ibn ʿAtīk passed away and his family were present, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:
“Do not pray against yourselves except with what is good, for the angels say ‘Āmīn’ to whatever you utter.”
Allah also censured those who limit their pleas to worldly gain, saying:
“And among the people is he who says, ‘Our Lord, grant us in this world,’ yet he will have no share in the Hereafter.” (Al-Baqarah 2:200)
He thus informed us that whoever asks only for this world will have no portion in the Hereafter.
(1) The preposition li is omitted in MS A.
(2) This wording occurs in a hadith recorded by Muslim, Book of Remembrance and Supplication, chapter “Disapproval of asking for punishment to be hastened in this world,” no. 2688 (4/2068); by al-Tirmidhi, Book of Supplications, chapter 72, no. 3487 (4/521–22); and by Ahmad, Musnad, 3/107, 288.
(3) Ibn Hajar lists three Companions with this name in al-Isabah: 1) Jabir b. Atik b. al-Harith b. Hishah, who lived until 61 AH and therefore did not die during the Prophet’s lifetime; 2) Jabir b. Atik b. al-Nuʿman b. Atik al-Ansari; and 3) Jabir b. Atik b. Qays b. al-Aswad b. Mura b. Kaʿb al-Ansari al-Sulami. I cannot determine whether the second or the third is intended, and I have found no evidence linking this hadith to Jabir b. Atik. See al-Isabah 1/214–15 (nos. 1030–1032) and Usd al-Ghabah 1/258–59.
(4) Although this phrasing appears in many hadith sources, I have not found it connected to the death of Jabir b. Atik. Rather, it is reported in the story of Abu Salamah’s death, when some of his family raised their voices and the Prophet said, “Do not supplicate against yourselves….” Muslim, Book of Funerals, chapter “Closing the eyes of the deceased and praying for him when present,” no. 920 (2/634).
(5) Quran, Surah al-Baqarah 2:200.
(6) The preposition min is omitted in MSS B and T.