—“and between them is a barrier” (al-Aʿrāf 7:46).

This, Ibn Aslam affirmed, is the correct position. As for the report attributed to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr and to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār—drawn from the Israelite scriptures—claiming that the wall in question is the rampart of Bayt al-Maqdis, it is exceedingly weak. If the one who voiced it merely intended an illustrative comparison, bringing an unseen reality closer to mind by likening it to something visible, the idea is acceptable, and that is perhaps what they both meant. Allah knows best.

Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā said:

R-Rabīʿ ibn Thaʿlab related to us; Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, from Muṭʿim ibn al-Miqdām al-Ṣanʿānī and others, from Muḥammad ibn Wāsiʿ, who said:

Abū al-Dardāʾ wrote to Salmān:

“My brother, beware of piling up worldly wealth whose thanks you cannot discharge, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say:

‘A man who possessed wealth and obeyed Allah with it will be brought forth, his riches laid out before him. Whenever he totters on the ṣirāṭ, his wealth will say, “Go on; you have paid Allah’s due in me.”’

He ﷺ continued:

‘Then a man who possessed wealth yet did not obey Allah with it will be brought, his riches slung across his shoulders. Whenever he staggers on the ṣirāṭ, his wealth will say to him, “Have you not paid Allah’s due in me?” He will remain like that until he cries out for doom and destruction.’ (1)

ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr used to say:

‘People! It is a bridged causeway whose surface is slick and treacherous. The first to cross will be saved; those who come later—some will be rescued, others gashed. Angels stand on both sides of the bridge, praying, “Lord, grant safety! Grant safety!” The ṣirāṭ is as sharp as a sword, stretched over the span of Hell, and upon it are hooks and barbed thorns. By Him in whose hand is my soul, those hooks and thorns know the passers-by—whom to seize and whom to scratch—better than a man knows his own companion and friend. By Him in whose hand is my soul, a single hook will snatch more people than the tribes of Rabīʿah and Muḍar.’ Reported by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā.

Saʿīd ibn Abī Hilāl said:

‘We have been informed that on the Day of Resurrection the ṣirāṭ—the bridge—will appear to some people thinner than a hair, while to others it will seem as wide as a spacious valley.’ Reported by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā. This statement, if Allah wills, is sound.

Another authority said:

‘The only person who sees the ṣirāṭ as thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword is the doomed one who will not be saved, whereas for some it will be wider than an open plain or a broad parade ground, and they will traverse it however they wish.’

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā also said:

Al-Khalīl ibn ʿAmr related to us; Ibn al-Sammāk, the preacher and ascetic, related to us, saying: ‘I have been informed that the ṣirāṭ spans three thousand years: one thousand ascending, one thousand level, and one thousand descending.’

Another said:

‘Whoever makes the ṣirāṭ broad for himself in this world will find it narrow for him in the Hereafter, and whoever makes it narrow for himself in this world will find it broadened for him in the Hereafter.’

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā further said:

ʿAlī ibn al-Jaʿd narrated to us; Sharīk narrated to us, from Abū Qatādah, from Sālim ibn—