he will fall silent. He said: Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will say, “Why do you not ask?” He said: He will reply, “My Lord, I have asked until I felt ashamed, and sworn oaths to You until I felt ashamed.” Allah, Mighty and Majestic, will say to him, “Would you not be content if I gave you the equivalent of the world, from the day I created it until I brought it to an end, and ten times as much?” He said: He will reply, “Are You mocking me, when You are the Lord of all worlds?” He said: The Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will laugh at his words.

He said: I saw ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd, may Allah be pleased with him9, laugh when he reached this point in the hadith. He said: A man said to him, “Abū ‘Abd al-Rahmān, I have heard you relate this hadith many times, and whenever you reach this point, you laugh.” He replied, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, relate this hadith many times, and whenever he reached this point, he laughed until his rearmost molars could be seen.”

He said: The Lord, Blessed and Exalted, will say, “No, but I am able to do that. Ask.” He will say, “My Lord,