Al-Aswad ibn ‘Āmir narrated to us: Hammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Qatādah, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I saw my Lord in the form of a beardless young man with thick, tightly curled hair, in a green meadow.’

He said: I was informed that al-Tabarānī said, ‘The hadith of Qatādah, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās, concerning seeing Allah is authentic.’ He also said, ‘Whoever claims that I retracted this hadith after narrating it has lied.’ He said, ‘This hadith was narrated by a number of Companions from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace; by a number of Successors from Ibn ‘Abbās; by a number of Successors of the Successors from ‘Ikrimah; and by a number of trustworthy narrators from Hammād ibn Salamah.’

He said: My father—may Allah have mercy on him—said: A number of trustworthy imams narrated this hadith from Hammād ibn Salamah, from Qatādah, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbās