the King.”’ The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, laughed in amazement at what he had said and in affirmation of it. Then the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited:

‘They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal. The entire earth will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.’ (67) [al-Zumar: 67]”

Also in the two Sahīh collections, Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be pleased with him, reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“On the Day of Resurrection, the earth will become a single loaf of bread, which the Compeller will turn over in His hand as one of you turns over his bread while travelling, as a welcoming feast for the people of Paradise.

A Jewish man then came and said, ‘May the Most Merciful bless you, O Abū al-Qāsim! Shall I tell you about the welcoming feast for the people of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection?’

He replied, ‘Yes.’

The man said, ‘The earth will become a single loaf of bread,’ just as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had said. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, looked at us, then laughed until his molar teeth showed.

The man then said, ‘Shall I tell you what they will have to accompany it?’

He replied, ‘Yes.’

The man said, ‘Their accompaniment will be bālām and nūn.’

They asked, ‘What is that?’

He replied, ‘A bull and a fish. Seventy thousand will eat from the projecting lobes of their livers.’”

And in