He answered, “O Saʿd, I can smell the fragrance of Paradise from the direction of Uhud!” This was a real perception, no figment of imagination or fancy. It was an honor Allah granted this man: He allowed him to sense the scent of Paradise before his martyrdom so that he would press forward and not retreat. And press forward he did—he fought until he was killed, martyred for Allah’s cause.

When his body was examined it bore more than eighty wounds—strikes from swords, spears, and arrows. His skin had been ripped apart, and no one could recognize him except his sister, who identified him only by his fingertips.

The Muslims believed that the following verse was revealed about him and others like him: “Among the believers are men who have been true to the covenant they made with Allah; some of them have fulfilled their vow while others are waiting, and they have never changed in the least” (al-Ahzab 33:23). There is no doubt that he and his peers are among the foremost included in this verse, for they fulfilled the pledge they made to Allah. Anas had declared, “By Allah, Allah shall surely see what I do,” and he fulfilled that vow—performing a deed none could accomplish except one upon whom Allah had bestowed similar favor—until he was martyred.

This hadith thus provides clear evidence for the chapter at hand: a person’s struggle against his own self in obedience to Allah. Anas ibn al-Nadr waged that tremendous struggle, advancing to fight the enemies of Allah after the Muslims had broken ranks and defeat loomed, until he was killed as a martyr. Allah is the One who grants success.

110 – Hadith Sixteen. Abu Masʿud ʿUqbah ibn ʿAmr al-Ansari al-Badri, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “When the verse on charity was revealed, we used to earn wages by carrying loads on our backs so that we could give in charity. A man came and donated a large amount, and they said, ‘He is showing off!’ Another man came and donated a sāʿ, and they said, ‘Indeed…’”