He said:

“Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise that flows across the face of the earth; my Lord—Exalted is He—has promised it to me.” (1)

Muslim also recorded it, through Abu Kurayb from Ibn Fudayl, with this same chain. (2)

Ahmad said: ʿAbd al-Samad narrated to us; Hammad narrated to us, from Thabit, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I was granted al-Kawthar, and there it was—a river running over the surface of the earth. Its banks are domes of unpierced pearl. I put my hand into its soil and found it to be fragrant musk, and its pebbles were pearls.” (3)

Ahmad likewise said: Sulayman ibn Dawud al-Hashimi narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Saʿd informed us; Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Muslim (4)—the nephew of Ibn Shihab—narrated to us, from his father, from Anas ibn Malik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about al-Kawthar, and he replied:

“It is a river Allah has granted me in Paradise; its soil is musk, its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. Birds frequent it whose necks are like the necks of camels.” (5)

Abu Bakr said, “O Messenger of Allah, those birds must be exceedingly luxurious.” He answered, “More luxurious still will be the one who eats them.” (6)

Al-Hakim said: al-Asamm informed us; Ibrahim ibn Munqidh narrated to us; Idris ibn Yahya narrated to us; al-Fadl ibn al-Mukhtar narrated to me, from ʿUbayd Allah ibn Mawhab, from ʿIsmah ibn Malik al-Khatmi, from Hudhayfah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “In Paradise there are birds the size of the bakhatī camels.” (7) Abu Bakr said, “They are truly luxuriant, O Messenger of Allah.” He replied, “More luxuriant still is the one who eats them—and you, Abu Bakr, are among those who will eat them.”

He then reported it through the route of Saʿid ibn Abi ʿArubah, from Qatadah, as a mursal report. (8)

Imam Ahmad also said: Abu Salamah al-Khuzaʿi narrated to us; Layth narrated to us, from Yazid—meaning Ibn al-Had—from ʿAbd al-Wahhab ibn Abi Bakr, from ʿAbd Allah ibn Muslim, from Ibn Shihab, from Anas ibn Malik, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about al-Kawthar. He said, “It is a river my Lord—Exalted is He—has granted me; it is whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, and within it are birds whose necks resemble the necks of camels.” ʿUmar said, “O Messenger of Allah, those birds are indeed luxuriant.” He replied, “More luxuriant still is the one who eats them, O ʿUmar.”