causing them to die. When they have been reduced to charcoal, permission for intercession will be granted, and they will be brought out in bundles (1), in throngs (2), and scattered along the rivers of Paradise. It will then be proclaimed, “O people of Paradise, pour water over them,” and they will sprout like a seed that grows in the silt left by a flood (3).
In the two Ṣaḥīḥs (4) there is also the lengthy ḥadīth related by Abū Hurayrah that speaks of crossing the Bridge and of intercession. He said:
“When Allah has finished settling the claims between His servants and wills, by His mercy, to release from the Fire whomever He pleases of its people, He will command the angels to bring out of the Fire those who never associated anything with Allah—those whom Allah wishes to show mercy to, the ones who used to say: Lā ilāha illā Allah. The angels will recognize them by the mark of prostration, for the Fire consumes the son of Adam except for the mark of prostration. They will be taken out of the Fire, their bodies scorched, and the water of life will be poured over them, whereupon they will grow as a seed grows in the silt carried by a flood. When Allah has completed the settling of claims among the servants, only one man will remain, facing the Fire…”
He then mentioned how that man is turned away from the Fire, brought forward toward Paradise, then to its gate, and finally admitted (5) into Paradise, and that he will be granted whatever he desires, and the like of it along with it (6).
Abū Saʿīd also narrated this ḥadīth and added: “and ten times as much” (7).