1076—Isa ibn Ali informed us: Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Baghawi informed us: Ahmad ibn Mansur narrated to us: al-Hasan al-Ashyab and Muhammad ibn Ja‘far narrated to us—the wording that follows is al-Ashyab’s—from Fudayl ibn Marzuq, from Atiyyah, from Abu Sa‘id, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

“The one who perished during the interval between messengers, the intellectually disabled person, and the child [who died before maturity]—the one who perished during the interval will say, ‘No Book or messenger came to me.’ Then he recited this verse: ‘Had We destroyed them with a punishment before this…’ [Ta-Ha 20:134].

“The intellectually disabled person will say, ‘He did not give me an intellect by which I could distinguish good from evil.’ The child will say, ‘I did not reach puberty.’

“A Fire will then be brought forth before them, and they will be told, ‘Approach it,’ or, ‘Enter it.’ Whoever, in Allah’s knowledge, would have been blessed had he lived to perform deeds will approach it or enter it; whereas whoever, in His knowledge, would have been wretched had he attained understanding will hold back from it. Then He will say, ‘It was Me that you disobeyed; how, then, would you have obeyed My messengers when they came to you with the unseen?’”