lofty and resplendent.

They said, “O Messenger of Allah, indeed—we are the ones who will strive for it!” He replied, “Say, ‘If Allah wills.’” So the people said, “If Allah wills.”

Al-Bazzar then remarked, “We know of no chain for this report except the one just mentioned.”

Ibn Majah related it through the narration of al-Walid ibn Muslim from Muhammad ibn Muhajir, with a similar wording. Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dawud transmitted it from ʿAmr ibn ʿUthman, from his father, from Muhammad ibn Muhajir, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya also recorded it by way of Muhajir (1).

It was cited earlier in the hadith transmitted by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Sabrah (2), from ʿUmar ibn ʿAtaʾ ibn Waraz (3), from Salim Abu al-Ghayth, from Abu Hurayrah—attributed to the Prophet (marfuʿ):

“The soil of Paradise is white; its open grounds are slabs of camphor stone, surrounded by musk piled up like dunes of sand. Within it are running rivers. There the people of Paradise gather and come to know one another. Allah then sends a breeze of mercy that stirs upon them the fragrance of musk, and every one of them returns to his wife having increased in beauty and loveliness…,” and he went on to mention the rest of the hadith (4).

Imam Ahmad also narrated—through Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas, from the Prophet ﷺ, as has already been cited—: “If even what a fingernail can carry of the treasures of Paradise were to appear, the regions between the horizons of heaven and earth would be adorned thereby” (5).

[A mention of the command to seek Paradise, Allah’s encouragement to His servants, and His instruction that they hasten toward it]

Allah the Exalted says:
“Allah invites to the Home of Peace and guides whom He wills.” (Yunus 10:25)

He also says:
“Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose breadth is that of the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing.” (Al ʿImran 3:133)

And He says:
“Vie with one another for forgiveness from your Lord and for a Garden whose breadth is like the breadth of the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His messengers. That is the bounty of Allah; He grants it to whom He wills, and Allah is Lord of tremendous bounty.” (Al-Hadid 57:21)

He further says:
“Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth in exchange that theirs shall be Paradise.” (Al-Tawbah 9:111)

And He says:
“They will be given to drink of a sealed nectar—its seal is musk; so for this let the competitors compete.” (Al-Mutaffifin 83:25–26)

Al-Bukhari and others relate—through Saʿid ibn Mināʾ, from Jabir—that angels came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while he was asleep. Some of them said, “He is sleeping,” while others said, “The eyes sleep but the heart is awake.” They said, “Present for him a parable.” They said, “His likeness is that of a man who built a house, set in it a banquet, and sent out a caller. Whoever answered…"