the weight of an atom—or of a mustard seed—of faith.’ I will go and do so; then I will return, praise Him with those same praises, and fall before Him in prostration.

“It will be said: ‘O Muhammad, raise your head; ask and you will be granted, speak and you will be heard, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’

“I will say: ‘My Lord, my community, my community.’

“He will say: ‘Go and bring out from it—meaning from the Fire—whoever has in his heart the very least, the very least, the very least weight of a mustard seed of faith. Bring him out of the Fire.’ So I will go and do it.”

He said: When we left Anas I said to some of my companions, “Suppose we pass by al-Ḥasan—he is keeping out of sight in the house of Abū Khalīfah—and relate to him what Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) has just told us.”

So we went to him, greeted him with salām, and he allowed us to enter. We said, “O Abū Saʿīd, we have just come from your brother Anas ibn Mālik, and we have never heard anything like what he told us about intercession.”

He said, “Well then, relate it.” We narrated the ḥadith to him, and when we reached this point he said, “Well?”

We said, “He did not add anything beyond this.”

He replied, “He related it to me in full twenty years ago. I do not know whether he has forgotten or he fears that you might become complacent.”

We said, “O Abū Saʿīd, then tell it to us.” He laughed and said, “Man was created hasty! The moment you mentioned it I meant to tell you. Anas narrated to me just as he narrated to you, and then he said:

‘Then I will return a fourth time, praise Him with those same praises, and fall before Him in prostration. It will be said: “O Muhammad, raise your head; speak and you will be heard, ask and you will be granted, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.” I will say: “My Lord, grant me permission on behalf of those who have said lā ilāha illā Allāh (there is no deity but Allah).” He will say: “By My might, My majesty, My greatness, and My magnificence, I shall surely bring out of it whoever has said lā ilāha illā Allāh.”’”

Muslim has likewise transmitted this from Abū al-Rabīʿ al-Zuhrānī and Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, both from Ḥammād ibn Zayd, with a similar wording (1).

Imām Aḥmad also recorded it—[through ʿAffān] from Ḥammād ibn Salamah, from Thābit, from Anas, from the Prophet ﷺ—relating the ḥadith at length, and in it he said: “I shall praise my Lord with praises that no one before me has ever offered Him, nor will anyone after me offer Him.”

That narration further states: “Bring out whoever has in his heart the weight of a grain of barley”; then he returns and it is said: “The weight of a wheat grain”; then he returns and it is said: “The weight of an atom.” It does not mention the fourth occasion (2).

Al-Bazzār likewise transmitted it from Muḥammad ibn Bashshār and Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar, both from Ḥammād ibn Masʿadah (3), from Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, from Jawthah ibn ʿUbayd al-Madanī (4), from Anas ibn Mālik, and he narrated the ḥadith in full (5). Abū Yaʿlā likewise transmitted it through the isnād of al-Aʿmash, from Yazīd al-Raqāshī, from Anas, narrating it at length, and in it he mentioned