358 — Abū Jaʿfar Ahmad ibn Yahyā al-Hulwānī narrated to us, saying: Muhammad ibn al-Sabbāh al-Dūlābī informed us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Zakariyyā informed us, from al-Aʿmash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, who said: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—narrated to us, and he is the truthful one whose truthfulness is affirmed:

“Indeed, the creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty nights. He then becomes a clinging clot for a similar period, then a lump of flesh for a similar period. Allah Most High then sends an angel to him, who is commanded to write four things: his deeds, his lifespan, his provision, and whether he will be wretched or blessed. The soul is then breathed ⦗778⦘ into him. Indeed, one of you will perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only a cubit remains between him and it; then the decree overtakes him, and he performs the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters the Fire. And one of you will perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only a cubit remains between him and it; then the decree overtakes him, and he performs the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.”