- ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; my father narrated to me; Bahz ibn Asad narrated to us; Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Muṭarrif, from Kaʿb, who said:
One day, while I was sitting with ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with him—he said to me, “O Kaʿb, put some fear into us.” I replied, “Commander of the Believers, is not the Book of Allah and the wisdom of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ already among you?” He said, “Certainly—but still, Kaʿb, admonish us.”
I said, “Commander of the Believers, live as a man who, were he to arrive at the Day of Resurrection bearing the deeds of seventy prophets, would still belittle his own deeds when he sees what lies ahead.” ʿUmar bowed his head, fell silent, and remained so for a long while. Then he raised his head and said, “Give us more, Kaʿb, give us more.”
I said, “Commander of the Believers, if Jahannam were opened even the breadth of a bull’s nostril in the east, and a man were in the west, the heat of it would make his brain boil until it flowed from his skull.” ʿUmar again lowered his head and was silent for a long time; then he looked up and said, “Give us more, Kaʿb.”
I said, “Commander of the Believers, on the Day of Resurrection Jahannam will exhale with such a blast that no favored angel nor chosen prophet will remain except that he falls upon his knees, saying, ‘My Lord, myself, myself—I ask You today only for myself.’ ” ʿUmar bowed his head for a long while. I then said, “Commander of the Believers, do you not find this in the Book of Allah?” He asked, “How?” I said, “In His words, Exalted is He: ‘On the Day when every soul will come pleading for itself, and every soul will be fully recompensed for what it has done, and they will not be wronged’ (al-Naḥl 16:111).”