Abu Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā (1) reported:
“Salamah ibn Shabīb narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Dīnār narrated to us; from al-Rabīʿ ibn Ṣabīḥ; from al-Ḥasan; from Anas, who said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘When the people of Paradise have entered Paradise, brothers will long for one another, and the couch of one of them will glide toward the couch of the other until they are together. Then one of them will say to his companion, “Do you know when Allah forgave us?” The other will reply, “We were in such-and-such a place, and we called upon Allah, and He forgave us.”’ (2)
As for His saying—
“A speaker among them will say, ‘Indeed, I had a companion’ (51)” [al-Ṣāffāt 37:51]—
this companion may be either a jinn or a human. He says: “He used to whisper to me about disbelief, sins, and the improbability of the Resurrection, but by the mercy (and favor) of Allah I was saved from him.” He then bids his companions to look out with him toward the Fire so that he may see the fate of his companion: “So he looked and saw him in the midst of Hellfire (55),” that is, in its depths, being punished. He praises Allah for rescuing him from the torment that has befallen his companion.
He then says:
“By Allah, you nearly caused me to perish (56), and had it not been for the favor of my Lord, I would have been among those brought forth (for punishment).”
That is, I would have been with you in the torment you are suffering. He next recalls the bliss he now enjoys and thanks Allah for it, saying:
“Are we not to die but our first death, and will we not be punished? (58)”—meaning, have we not been delivered from death and punishment by entering Paradise?—
“Indeed, this is the supreme triumph.”
His words,
“For the like of this let the workers work” [37:61],
may be the continuation of the believer’s own speech, or they may be speech from Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), urging His servants to strive for such success, so that competitors vie for salvation from the Fire and entry into Paradise, where there is no death. Many similar passages have been cited in our Tafsīr.
We also mentioned at the beginning of our Sharḥ al-Bukhārī, in the Book of Faith, the ḥadīth of Ḥārithah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “How did you awake, O Ḥārithah?” He replied, “I awoke a true believer.” The Prophet asked, “What is the reality of your faith?” He said, “My soul has turned away from this world; I keep my nights awake (in worship) and my days thirsty (in fasting), and it is as though I behold the Throne of my Lord laid bare, the people of Paradise visiting one another therein, and the people of the Fire being tormented therein.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “A servant whose heart Allah has illuminated.” (3)
Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīrah related from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl, who said: “We have been told that those of higher rank in Paradise will visit those below, whereas those of lower rank will not visit those above.”
I (the author) say: This may be understood in two ways:
- A person of the lower station is not suited to rise above it because he lacks the capacity to do so.
- So that he will not see bliss greater than what he himself enjoys and thereby feel sorrow; and there is no sorrow in Paradise. Allah knows best.