the sun when no clouds obscure it?”

They said, “No.”

He said: “You will see Him just as clearly. The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection, and He will say, ‘Whoever worshipped anything, let him follow it.’ Some will follow the sun, some will follow the moon, and some will follow false deities. This community will remain, including its hypocrites. He will come to them in a form other than His form which they recognize. They will say, ‘We seek refuge in Allah from you. We shall remain here until our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, comes to us. When our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, comes, we shall recognize Him.’ He will then come to them in His form which they recognize and say, ‘I am your Lord.’ They will say, ‘You are our Lord.’ He will call them, and they will follow Him. The bridge will be laid across the midst of Hell, and my community and I will be the first to cross. None but the messengers will speak that day, and the messengers’ supplication that day will be, ‘O Allah, grant safety! Grant safety!’” He went on to relate the hadith.

The two Sahīh collections also report from Abū Sa‘īd, who said:

“We said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, will we see our Lord on the Day of Resurrection?’

“The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Yes. Do you have any difficulty seeing the sun at midday when the sky is clear and there are no clouds? Do you have any difficulty seeing the moon on the night when it is full, when the sky is clear and there are no clouds?’

“They said, ‘No, O Messenger of Allah.’

“He said, ‘You will have no more difficulty seeing Allah, Blessed and Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection than you have seeing either of them. When the Day of Resurrection comes, a caller will proclaim, “Let every community follow what it used to worship.” All those who worshipped anything other than Allah—idols or objects of worship set up for them—will fall into the Fire, until none remain but those who worshipped Allah, whether righteous or wicked, and those other than the People of the Book.’”

He then related the passage of the hadith concerning the summoning of the Jews and Christians, until he said:

“Until none remain but those who worshipped Allah, whether righteous or wicked, Allah will come to them in a lower form than that in which they had seen Him. He will say, ‘What are you waiting for? Every community is following what it used to worship.’ They will say, ‘Our Lord, we parted from the people in this world when we were most in need of them, and did not