do you have any knowledge of the unseen?” By Allah, he laughed and shook his head, knowing that I was trying to catch him in a slip. He said, “Your Lord has kept to Himself the keys to five matters of the unseen, which none but Allah knows,” and he gestured with his hand.

“What are they, O Messenger of Allah?”

He said, “Knowledge of death: He knows when each of you will die, but you do not. And knowledge of the day rain will fall: He looks upon you in hardship and apprehension, and continues to laugh, knowing that your relief is near.”

Laqīt said: I said, “O Messenger of Allah, we shall never lack goodness from a Lord who laughs!”

“And knowledge of what tomorrow holds: He knows what you will eat tomorrow, but you do not. And knowledge of the day of the Hour.” He said: I think he also mentioned what is in the wombs.

I said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach us some of what you teach the people and what you know, for we come from a people none of whom believes as we do—neither Madhhij, who live near us, nor Khathʿam, who are our neighbors