al-Ḥublī said: “The moment a servant enters Paradise he is received by seventy thousand attendants, gleaming like pearls.”

Ibn al-Mubārak added: “Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb narrated to us; ʿUbayd Allah ibn Zahr related to me, from Muhammad ibn Ayyūb (1), from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Maʿāfirī, who said: ‘Two long files are arranged for a man of Paradise—so long that their ends cannot be seen—composed of his youthful servants. Whenever he passes by, they walk behind him.’”

Abū Nuʿaym transmitted—from Salamah—from al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim—who said: “When the believer enters Paradise, an angel goes before him and leads him through its lanes. The angel asks, ‘Look—what do you see?’ He replies, ‘I see more palaces of gold and silver than I have ever beheld, and more delightful company.’ The angel says, ‘All of this has been gathered for you.’ Then, whenever the dwellers of those palaces glimpse him they greet him, proclaiming, ‘We are yours, we are yours!’”

Aḥmad ibn Abī al-Ḥawārī reported from Abū Sulaymān al-Dārānī regarding Allah’s words, “When you look there, you will see bliss and a vast kingdom” [al-Insān: 20]. He said: “The ‘vast kingdom’ is that an angel brings a gift to the friend (walī) of Allah—Exalted is He—but can reach him only after permission upon permission. The angel says to his chamberlain, ‘Ask leave for me to enter upon the friend of Allah,’ and that chamberlain informs another chamberlain, and yet another after him, passing from one residence to the next until the command finally reaches the friend of Allah—Exalted is He. From his own residence there is a gate to Dār al-Salām through which the friend may enter upon his Lord whenever he wills, without seeking leave; whereas the Messenger of the Lord of Might himself does not enter except with permission.”

Ibn Abī al-Dunyā said: “Khālid ibn Khidāsh related to us; Mahdī ibn Maymūn narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Yaʿqūb, from Bishr ibn Shaghāf, who said: ‘We were sitting with ʿAbd Allah ibn Salām when he remarked: “The most honoured creature in the sight of Allah is Abū al-Qāsim ﷺ. Paradise is in the heaven and the Fire is in the earth. When the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah will raise the creation nation by nation, prophet by prophet. A bridge will then be laid over Jahannam, and a herald will call out, ‘Where are Ahmad and his community?’ He will stand and his community—its righteous and its sinners alike—will follow him. They will set out upon the bridge while Allah blots out the sight of His enemies, who tumble into it from the left and the right. The Prophet ﷺ and the righteous with him will be saved. The angels will receive them and lodge them in their dwellings of Paradise, on your right and on your left, until he comes before his Lord and a throne is set for him on the right of Allah. Then a herald will call, ‘Where are Jesus and his community?’—and he mentioned something similar until he said—‘and a throne is placed for him on the other side. After them the prophets and the nations will follow, the last of them being Noah (may Allah’s mercy be upon them).’” This report is mawqūf upon Ibn Salām (may Allah be pleased with him).’”

Earlier we cited the narration of Salmān al-Fārisī, transmitted by Ibn Abī al-Dunyā from Abū Naṣr al-Tammār—who said: Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Thābit al-Bunānī, from Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, from Salmān al-Fārisī—that he said: “On the Day of Resurrection the sirāṭ will be set up, thinner than a hair and sharper than a razor. The angels will say, ‘Our Lord, who can possibly cross this?’ He—Exalted is He—will reply, ‘Whomever I will from My creation.’ They will say, ‘Our Lord, we have not worshipped You as You deserve to be worshipped.’”