will come to us and keep us steadfast. Here we shall remain until our Lord comes to us.’ He will say, ‘I am your Lord.’ Then He will say, ‘Proceed.’

We will proceed until we reach the bridge, upon which are hooks of fire that snatch people away. At that point, intercession will be permitted to me: ‘O Allah, grant safety! O Allah, grant safety!’ Once they have crossed the bridge, the keepers of Paradise will address everyone who spent a pair of items from his possessions in Allah’s cause, saying, ‘O servant of Allah! O Muslim! Here is something good!’

Abū Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, such a servant will suffer no loss if he leaves one gate and enters through another?’ He tapped his shoulder and said, ‘I hope that you will be among them.’”

Sufyān ibn ‘Uyaynah said, “Rawh ibn al-Qāsim and I memorized it, and he repeated it to us two or three times.”

Sufyān was asked about the words, “You exercise leadership and take a quarter of the spoils.” He explained, “When a man was the leader of his people, he was entitled to a quarter of the spoils.”

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to ‘Adī ibn Hātim, when the latter said, “O Messenger of Allah, I follow a religion”: “I know your religion better than you do. You consider it lawful to take a quarter of the spoils, although it is not lawful for you.”

The substance of this hadith is reported in the two Sahīh collections and elsewhere through numerous mutually corroborating routes. It states that he was asked about seeing Allah and affirmed it, then followed this with an explanation. He mentioned that the servant and the hypocrite will meet Him and that He will address them. The hadith of Abū Sa‘īd and Abū Hurayrah states:

“He will manifest Himself to the believers and hypocrites on the Day of Resurrection, on an occasion following His first manifestation to them. The believers will prostrate, but the hypocrites will not.”

This issue has been discussed at length elsewhere.