Al-Isra wal-Miraj wa Dhikr Ahadithihima wa Takhrijiha wa Bayan Sahihiha - Nasir al-Din al-Albani - (67)

So I prayed inside the mosque at the spot Allah willed.

A fierce thirst then overtook me, and two vessels were brought—one containing milk and the other honey, both sent to me together. I compared the two, and by Allah’s guidance I chose the milk and drank until beads of sweat formed on my brow1. In front of me sat an elderly man reclining on his couch2, who said, “Your companion has opted for the primordial nature; he is truly guided.”

He next set off with me until we reached the valley within the city, and there Hell was laid bare before us, spread out like carpets3. I asked, “Messenger of Allah, what was it like?” He replied, “I found it like a scorching thermal spring.”

He then turned back with me, and we passed a caravan of Quraysh at such-and-such a place that had—

(1) Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid reads: “faraghtu bihi jabī” (“I have finished with it, O my forehead”). Al-Durr has: “faraghtu minhu janbī” (“my side is now free of it”), whereas al-Khaṣāʾiṣ records: “qaraʿtu bihi jabīnī” (“I struck my forehead with it”). The wording found in the base manuscript is probably the correct one. (2) The base manuscript keeps the word as is, which may denote “dwelling.” Al-Khaṣāʾiṣ and al-Durr, however, read it as “minbar” (pulpit), and Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid omits the word altogether. (3) The manuscript has “al-rawābī” (the hills); the emended reading, adopted from Majmaʿ al-Zawaʾid and others, differs. The comparison seems intended only to highlight their blazing brightness.

فصليت من المسجد حيث شاء الله. وأخذني من العطش ما أخذني فأتيت بإناءين في أحدهما لبن وفي الآخر عسل أرسل إلي بهما جميعا فعدلت بينهما ثم هداني الله ﷿ فأخذت اللبن فشربت حتى عرقت به جبيني١ وبين يدي شيخ متكئ على مثواة٢ له فقال: أخذ صاحبك الفطرة إنه ليهدى. ثم انطلق بي حتى أتينا الوادي الذي في المدينة فإذا جهنم تتكشف عن مثل الزرابي٣ قلت: يا رسول الله! كيف وجدتها؟ قال: وجدتها مثل الحمة السخنة. ثم انصرف بي فمررنا بعير لقريش بمكان كذا وكذا قد.

١ في "المجمع": "فرغت به جبي". وفي "الدر": "فرغت منه جنبي". وفي "الخصائص": "قرعت به جبيني" ولعل الصواب ما في الأصل. ٢ كذا الأصل ولعله بمعنى المنزل. وفي الخصائص والدر: منبر. وسقط من المجمع. ٣ الأصل: الروابي والتصحيح من "المجمع"وغيره. ولعل وجه التشبيه بها إنما هو من حيث تلهبها.