Kulthum ibn ʿIyad al-Qushayri once declared from the pulpit of Damascus in the days of Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik: “Whoever prefers Allah, Allah will prefer him; and whoever honors Allah, Allah will honor him. May Allah show mercy to a servant who uses the favor He has granted to obey Him and does not use that favor to disobey Him. No hour passes over an inhabitant of Paradise without his store of good deeds increasing through the blessing Allah has given him; moreover, Allah discloses to him beneficial knowledge for the life to come—knowledge he had not known before. Likewise, no hour passes over an inhabitant of punishment without his doing some act that is detested and loathsome among the deeds of the people of punishment; something of disgrace, unknown to him before, is laid bare for him in this world and the next.”
This man—may Allah have mercy on him—served as governor of Damascus under Hisham ibn ʿAbd al-Malik. Later Hisham dispatched him to campaign in the lands of the Maghrib, where he was killed—may Allah have mercy on him. Ibn ʿAsakir included this report—may Allah have mercy on him.
It is related that Paradise has been surrounded by hardships—meaning those deeds that weigh heavily on the self: performing the obligatory and recommended acts, abstaining from the forbidden, and patiently enduring what is disliked. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Perfecting wuḍūʾ in adverse conditions and waiting for one prayer after another” (1). Hellfire, on the other hand, has been surrounded by desires.
Imam Ahmad said: “Hasan narrated to us; Hammad ibn Salamah narrated to us, from Thabit al-Bunani, from Anas ibn Malik: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Paradise is surrounded by hardships, and Hellfire is surrounded by desires.’ Muslim and al-Tirmidhi likewise transmitted it through Hammad ibn Salamah, from Thabit—Muslim adding Humayd (2)—both from Anas. Al-Tirmidhi remarked: [sound] and gharib (3).”
Ahmad also said: “Qutaybah narrated to us; Ibn Lahiʿah narrated to us, from Abu al-Aswad, from Yahya ibn al-Naḍr, from Abu Hurayrah: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Paradise has been surrounded by hardships, and the Fire has been surrounded by desires.’ Ahmad alone reported it, and its chain is good and fair because of corroborating narrations (4).”
Ahmad further said: “Muhammad ibn Bishr narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Abu Salamah narrated to us, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said: ‘When Allah created Paradise and Hellfire, He sent Gabriel, saying, “Go and look at them and at what I have prepared in them for their inhabitants.” Gabriel went and looked at them and at what Allah had prepared in them for their inhabitants, then returned and said, “By Your might, no one who hears of it will fail to enter it.” So He commanded that Paradise be surrounded by hardships. Then He said, “Return to it and look at it and at…’”