Abū Hurayrah; others besides Saʿīd also transmitted it, and it was related from him by al‐Zuhrī and, through him, by his students. In this ḥadīth it is said:
“Then Allah comes to them in a form different from the one they recognize, and they will say, ‘We seek refuge with Allah from you; we shall remain where we are until our Lord comes to us, and when our Lord comes we will recognize Him.’ (1) So Allah will come to them in the form they know.” (2)
This same report is found in the two Ṣaḥīḥs through another chain (3), on the authority of Abū Saʿīd, narrated by al-Layth ibn Saʿd (4) — the Imām of the Muslims — and others, although it has been alleged that he did not transmit such traditions. In that version appear momentous phrases even more forceful than those in the first narration, such as his words:
“Then they will raise their heads and behold that He has taken on the very form in which they had first seen Him” (5) and his statement therein: (6)
- al-Dhahabi, al-Mizan, vol. 4:217–246; and al-Tahdhib al-Tahdhib by Ibn Hajar, vol. 4:84–88.
(1) In the manuscript it reads “ʿarafna” (we knew), which is a slip by the copyist.
(2) In Sahih Muslim, after “ghayra ṣuratihi allatī yaʿrifūn” (apart from His form that they know), there follows “fayaqūl: anā rabbukum” (and He says, “I am your Lord”). The same addition appears in Sahih al-Bukhari and the Musnad.
(3) In the manuscript and in the printed edition it reads “ukhrā” (other).
The hadith, with variant wording, is also recorded by al-Bukhari in his Ṣaḥīḥ via the chain mentioned by the Shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him), vol. 8:181–183, in the Book of Tawḥīd, chapter on the verse “Faces, that Day, will be radiant, looking at their Lord” (Q. 75:22–23). It is likewise found in Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ, vol. 1:167–171, in the Book of Faith, chapter on knowing the manner of the Vision, hadith no. 302.
(4) He is Abū al-Ḥārith al-Layth ibn Saʿd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nahmī, sheikh of Egypt and its foremost scholar. He was highly learned, steadfast in trustworthiness, and issued independent legal opinions in his time. He died in 175 AH. See al-Khaṭīb, Tārīkh Baghdād, vol. 13:3–14; Ibn Khallikān, Wafayāt al-Aʿyān, vol. 4:129–132; al-Dhahabī, Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẓ, vol. 1:224–226.
(5) In the original it reads “rawāhu” (he narrated); in the manuscript it appears as “rawawhu” (they narrated). Both are scribal errors. The correct reading, as found in the Ṭ edition and in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, is “rawāhu.”
(6) This is Muslim’s wording, though another version reads “thumma yarfaʿūn…” (then they will be raised…).