This is the version that has been reliably preserved. As for the wording found in the narration of Shurayk ibn Abī Namr from Anas—that Abraham was in the sixth heaven and Moses in the seventh out of deference to the fact that Moses spoke directly with Allah—more than one ḥadīth master has explained that the sound, well-trodden path is that Moses was in the sixth heaven and Abraham in the seventh, his back resting against the Frequented House (al-Bayt al-Maʿmūr), into which seventy thousand angels enter every day, never to return once they have finished their turn.¹

All the reports concur that when Allah, exalted is He, first decreed fifty prayers each day and night upon Muḥammad ﷺ and his community, the Prophet passed by Moses, who said, “Go back to your Lord and ask Him to lighten the burden for your community. I dealt with the Children of Israel before you with the utmost effort, and your community is weaker in hearing, sight, and heart.” The Prophet kept going back and forth between Moses and Allah, and the obligation was reduced each time until it became five prayers in the day and night. Allah then said, “They are five, yet they are fifty,” meaning in multiplied reward. May Allah reward Muḥammad ﷺ on our behalf with the best of rewards, and likewise reward Moses عليه السلام with the best of rewards.

Al-Bukhārī reports: “Musaddad narrated to us; Ḥuṣayn ibn Numayr narrated to us; Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: One day the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came out to us and said, ‘The nations were displayed before me, and I saw a vast crowd filling the horizon. It was said to me, ‘This is Moses with his people.’” Thus al-Bukhārī records the report here in this abbreviated form.² ³

Imām Aḥmad transmits the fuller version: “Shurayḥ narrated to us; Hushaym narrated to us; Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated: I was with Saʿīd ibn Jubayr when he asked, ‘Which of you saw the shooting star last night?’ I replied, ‘I did,’ adding, ‘I was not in prayer, but I had been stung.’ He asked, ‘What did you do?’ I said, ‘I sought a healing incantation (ruqyah).’ He said, ‘What made you do that?’ I answered, ‘A ḥadīth that al-Shaʿbī narrated to us from Buraydah al-Aslamī, who said: “There is no ruqyah except for the evil eye or a sting.”’ Saʿīd—meaning Ibn Jubayr—remarked, ‘He has done well who confines himself to what he has heard.’

“He then said: Ibn ʿAbbās related to us that the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘The nations were presented before me. I saw a prophet accompanied by a small band, another prophet with one or two men, and a prophet with no one at all. Then a tremendous dark mass was raised before me. I said, “Is this my community?” It was said, “This is Moses and his people. But look to the horizon.” I looked, and there was an immense multitude. Then it was said, “Look to this side,” and there too was an immense multitude. It was said, “This is your community, and with them are seventy thousand who will enter Paradise without reckoning and without punishment.”’

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then rose and went inside, and the people began to discuss the matter, saying, ‘Who are those who will enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment?’ Some of them said, ‘Perhaps they are those who kept company with the Prophet ﷺ.’”