2166 – Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn Muhammad narrated to us; he said: al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan narrated to us; he said: Muʾammal narrated to us; he said: Mubarak ibn Fadala, from al-Hasan, who said:

“When the soul of a believer is taken, it is borne up to the heavens, where the souls of the believers meet it and ask, ‘What has he done?’ The angel says, ‘Deal gently with him, for he has just come forth from intense sorrow and hardship.’

Then they ask him, ‘How is so-and-so?’ He replies, ‘He is well.’ They say, ‘O Allah, You guided him to that, so keep him firm upon it.’

They ask again, ‘And what of so-and-so?’ He says, ‘Has he not come to you?’ They answer, ‘No, by Allah, he has not passed by us.’ It is then said, ‘He has been taken to his mother, the Abyss (al-hāwiya)—what a wretched mother and what a wretched nurturer it is.’”