Mention of the Market of Paradise
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr ibn Abī ʿĀṣim said:
“Hishām ibn ʿAmmār told us; ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd ibn Ḥabīb ibn Abī al-ʿIshrīn told us, from al-Awzāʿī, from Ḥassān ibn ʿAṭiyyah, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib:
He met Abū Hurayrah, who said, ‘I ask Allah to bring you and me together in the market of Paradise.’
Saʿīd asked, ‘Does Paradise have a market?’
He replied, ‘Yes. Allah’s Messenger ﷺ informed me:
“Indeed, when the people of Paradise enter it they shall reside therein according to the merit of their deeds. Then, after a span equal to one Friday of the days of this world, they will be permitted to visit Allah—Exalted is He—in a meadow among the meadows of Paradise. Pulpits will be set out for them: pulpits of light, pulpits of pearl, pulpits of emerald, pulpits of ruby, pulpits of gold, and pulpits of silver. The one of lowest rank among them—though there is no lowly person there—will sit upon mounds of musk and camphor, yet they will not feel that those seated on the chairs have a more distinguished place than themselves.”
Abū Hurayrah said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall we see our Lord?’
He replied, “Yes. Do you dispute the sight of the sun and the moon on a night when the moon is full?”
We said, ‘No.’
He said, “In the same way you will not dispute about seeing your Lord—Most High. No one will remain in that assembly without his Lord conversing with him directly. He will say, ‘O so-and-so, son of so-and-so, do you remember the day you did such-and-such?’ and He will remind him of some of his misdeeds. The man will answer, ‘Yes; did You not forgive me?’ He will say, ‘Indeed; and by My forgiveness you have reached the station you now occupy.’”
He continued, “While they are in that state, a cloud will overshadow them and shower them with a fragrance the like of which they have never known.”
He said, “Then our Lord—Exalted is He—will say, ‘Rise to the honor I have prepared for you and take whatever you desire.’”
He said, “They will come upon a market surrounded by angels, containing what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never crossed a human heart.”
He said, “We shall take from it whatever we wish, and it will be carried for us; nothing is bought or sold there. In that market the people of Paradise will meet one another.”
He said, “A man with splendid attire will approach someone whose attire is inferior to his—though none there is base—so he will marvel at his garments and appearance. But before their conversation ends, the one who had the lesser apparel will be clothed in something finer than the first man’s, for it is not fitting that anyone should feel sadness there.”
He said, “Then we shall return to our dwellings, and our wives will meet us, saying, ‘Welcome, dear one! You have returned with a beauty and fragrance greater than when you left us.’ We shall reply, ‘We have sat with our Lord, the Compeller, and it is only right that we come back as we have.’”
Ibn Mājah likewise transmitted it from Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, and al-Tirmidhī narrated it from Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl, from Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, then remarked, “It is gharīb; we do not know it except through this chain.” Abū Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā also related it from al-Ḥakam ibn Mūsā, from Hiql ibn Ziyād, from al-Awzāʿī, who said, “I was informed that Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib met Abū Hurayrah …,” and he mentioned the report. ⦗1⦘