“Glory be to Allah, the Creator of you two!”

Thereupon they quivered, and it was as though all the mountains of the earth were crashing down. I lost consciousness, and so did the Jew; he came to before I did and said, “Get up! You were about to destroy yourself and me as well.”

Ibn Fuḍayl narrated from Layth, from Mujāhid, who said: Three persons will be brought on the Day of Resurrection—the wealthy man, the sick man, and the enslaved servant. Allah—exalted is He—will say to the rich man, “What kept you from the worship for which I created you?” He will reply, “My Lord, You increased my wealth until I became arrogant.” Then Solomon (peace be upon him) will be brought in all his dominion, and it will be said to the wealthy man, “Were you richer and more preoccupied, or was this man?” He will answer, “This man, my Lord.” Allah will say, “Yet all that he was given of kingdom, wealth, and cares did not prevent him from My worship.”

Next the sick man will be brought and asked, “What kept you from the worship for which I created you?” He will say, “My Lord, the illness of my body occupied me.” Job (peace be upon him) will then be brought in the midst of his suffering and it will be said, “Were you in greater pain and sickness, or was this man?” He will say, “This man.” Allah will say, “His affliction and illness did not distract him from My worship.”

Then the slave will be brought, and Allah will say to him, “What kept you from the worship for which I created you?” He will say, “My Lord, You placed masters over me; they owned me and busied me away from Your worship.” Joseph (peace be upon him) will then be brought in the state of his servitude, and it will be said, “Were you under harsher bondage, or was this man?” He will reply, “This man, my Lord.” Allah will say, “What he endured of slavery did not keep him from My worship.”

Humayd narrated from al-Aʿraj, from Mujāhid, who said: I used to travel with Ibn ʿUmar. Whenever I wished to mount, he would hold my stirrup; once I was in the saddle, he would straighten my clothes. One time he noticed that I seemed displeased by his doing that and said, “O Mujāhid, you are truly narrow-spirited!” In another report: “I accompanied Ibn ʿUmar intending to serve him, but he ended up serving me” (1).

Imām Aḥmad (2) said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq told us, al-Thawrī told us, from a man, from Mujāhid, who said: The earth has been made for the Angel of Death like a basin; he reaches into it wherever he wishes. Assistants have been appointed for him who first seize the souls, and then he gathers them from them.

He also said: When Adam descended to earth it was said to him, “Build for ruin, and beget for extinction” (3).

Qutaybah narrated from Jarīr, from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, concerning the verse, “The cursers will curse them” (al-Baqarah 2:159): he said, “They are cursed…"