Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (17/195)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

—those who outnumber us (1); Khathʿam, who support us as allies (2); and our own clan from which we spring.”

He said:

“You will remain for a while, then your Prophet will pass away. After that you will remain for a while, then the Piercing Cry will be sent forth. By the life of your Lord, it will not leave a single thing upon the earth but that it dies—along with the angels who are with your Lord, exalted is He. Then your Lord, exalted is He, will traverse the lands, and the lands will lie empty before Him. Your Lord, exalted is He, will then command the sky, and it will pour down (3) from beneath the Throne. By the life of your Lord, it will not leave on the earth any spot where a person was slain, nor any grave of the dead, without cleaving it open until it raises him (4) from beside his head, whereupon he will sit upright. Your Lord will ask, ‘Mahaym (5)—what state were you in?’ and he will answer, ‘My Lord, it was yesterday—or today.’ So close is his memory of life that he will think it but a recent conversation with his family.”

I said, “Messenger of Allah, how will He gather us after the winds, decay, and wild beasts have scattered us?”

He replied,

“I shall tell you something like that among the signs of Allah. You look upon a land when it is nothing but dry, crumbling clay (6) and you say, ‘It will never come to life.’ Then your Lord, exalted is He, sends rain upon it, and in only a few days you behold it again—at a single drink it is revived. By the life of your Lord, He is even more able to assemble you from a drop of water than to gather the vegetation of the earth. You will emerge from the clefts (7) and from the places where you fell, and you will look at Him and He will look at you.”

I said, “Messenger of Allah, how can that be when we fill the earth and He is a single Being who looks at us while we look at Him?”

He said,

“Shall I tell you of something similar among the signs of Allah, exalted is He? The sun and the moon—small signs of His—you see them and they see you at one and the same time, and you are not jostled (8) in viewing them. By the life of your Lord, He is even more capable that He should see you and you should see Him than they are.”

I said, “Messenger of Allah, what will our Lord do with us when we meet Him?”

He said,

“You will be presented before Him, your faces laid bare; nothing of you will be hidden from Him. Your Lord, exalted is He, will take a handful of water and sprinkle it over the front of you. By the life of your Lord, not a single drop will miss the face of any one of you. As for the believer, it will leave his face like a white silken cloth (9); as for the disbeliever, it will brand his face (10) like black molten lava (11). Know, then, that your Prophet will move on, and the righteous will follow in his footsteps. You will tread a bridge over the Fire; one of you will step upon the embers and say, ‘Hass!’ (12) and your Lord, exalted is He, will say, ‘Now is its time.’”

(1) i.e., it rises. (2) i.e., it is adjacent to us. (3) i.e., it rains. (4) i.e., you greet him. (5) an interrogative particle meaning: “How are you, and what is your state?” (6) al-mudarra: a piece of stone. (7) i.e., the graves. (8) i.e., that no injustice befalls you. (9) Every mil’aah (sheet or covering) not possessing two edges (lifqayn). (10) i.e., that it strikes his nose. (11) In Musnad al-Imam Ahmad: “bimithl al-hamim.” al-hamim (singular hamma) means charcoal. See al-Nihaya, vol. 1, p. 444. (12) hass: the sound of agony when one treads on the ember (jamrah).

تربو (١) عَلَيْنَا، وَخَثْعَم التي تُوالينا (٢) ، وَعَشِيرَتِنا التي نَحْنُ منها، قال: "تَلْبَثُونَ ما لَبِثْتُمْ ثم يُتوفى نَبِيّكم، ثم تَلْبَثُونَ ما لَبِثْتُم، ثم تُبْعَثُ الصَّائِحَةُ، لَعَمْرُ إلهِكَ ما تَدَعُ على ظَهْرِهَا مِنْ شَيْءٍ إلّا ماتَ، والملائكةُ الذين مع ربك – Exalté soit-Il – ، فأصبْحَ رَبُّك – Exalté soit-Il – يطوف في البلاد وخَلَتْ عَلَيْه البلاد، فأرسلَ ربُّك – Exalté soit-Il – السماءَ، تَهْضِبُ (٣) مِنْ عِنْد العرش، فلَعَمْرُ إلهك ما تدعُ على ظهرها من مَصْرَع قتيل، ولا مَدْفَنِ مَيِّت إلّا شَقَّت القَبْر عنهُ حَتّى تُخْلِفَه (٤) مِنْ عند رأسه، فيستوي جالسًا، يقول ربك: مَهْيَمْ (٥) لما كان فيه، فيقول: يا رب، أمسِ، اليومَ، فلِعهده بالحياة يَحْسَبُه حَدِيثًا بأهْلِه" ، فقلت: يا رسول اللَّه كيف يَجْمَعُنا بعد ما تُمَزِّقُنا الرياحُ، والبِلَى، والسِّباعُ؟ قال: "أُنبِّئُك بمثل ذلك في آلاء اللَّهِ، الأَرْضُ أَشْرَفْتَ عَلَيْها وهي مَدَرةٌ (٦) باليةٌ، فقلت: لا تحيا أبدًا، ثم أرسل ربك – Exalté soit-Il – عليها السماء، فلم تَلْبَثْ عليك إلّا أيامًا حَتّى أَشْرَفْتَ عَلْيها، وهي شَربة واحدة، ولعمر إلهك لَهُو أَقْدَرُ على أَنْ يَجْمَعكُمْ من الماء، على أن يجمع نبات الأرض، فتخرجون من الأَصْوَاءِ (٧) ومِن مصارعكم، فتنظرون إليه، ويَنْظُرُ إليكم" . قال: قلت: يا رسول اللَّه، كيف ونحن مِلْءُ الأرض، وهو شخص واحد يَنْظُر إلينا، ونَنْظُر إِلَيْه؟ قال: "أنبِّئك بمثل ذلك في آلاء اللَّه – Exalté soit-Il – ؟ الشمس، والقمر، آية منه صغيرة ترونهما ويريانكم ساعةً واحدةً، لا تضامون (٨) في رؤيتهما، ولعمر إلهك لهو أقدر على أن يراكم وترونه منهما" ، قال: قلت: يا رسول اللَّه، فما يفعل بنا ربنا إذا لقيناه؟ قال: "تُعْرَضُون عليه باديةً له صَفَحَاتكُمْ، لا تَخْفَى عليه منكم خافية، فيأْخُذُ ربُّك – Exalté soit-Il – بيده غَرْفةً من الماءَ، فيَنْضَحُ قَبِيلَكُمْ بها، فلعَمْرُ إلهك ما تُخطئ وَجْهَ أحدكم منها قطرة، فأما المؤمن فتَدَعُ وَجْهَهُ، مِثْل الرَّيْطَةِ (٩) البَيْضَاءِ، وأما الكافِرُ فتَخْطِمُه (١٠) بمثل الحُمَم (١١) الأسود، أَلا ثُمَّ ينصرف نَبِيُّكم، وينصرف الصالحون على أثَرِه، فتسلكون جِسْرًا من النار، فيَطَأُ أحَدُكُم الجَمْرَ ويقول: حَسّ (١٢) فيقول ربك – Exalté soit-Il – : أَوَانُهُ.

(١) أي ترتفع. (٢) أي تجاورنا. (٣) أي تمطر. (٤) أي تحييه. (٥) كلمة استفهام، معناها: ما حالك وما شأنك. (٦) المدرة: قطعة الحجر. (٧) أي القبور. (٨) أي لا يحصل لكم ضيم. (٩) كل ملاءة غير ذات لِفْقَيْنِ. (١٠) أي تصيب أنفه. (١١) في "مسند الإمام أحمد": "بمثل الحميم" والحمم: مفردها الحممة، وهي الفحمة. "النهاية" (١/ ٤٤٤). (١٢) حَسّ: صوت التوجع من ألم الجمرة حين وطئها.