toward Allah], while the angels of punishment said, “He has never done any good at all.” Allah, Mighty and Majestic, then sent an angel [in the form of a man], and they submitted their dispute to him. He said, “See which of the two towns he was nearer to, and join him with its people.” [Allah then inspired this one to draw nearer and the other to move farther away.] [They measured him and found that he was nearer to the land he had intended to reach by a handspan, so the angels of mercy took his soul] [and he was forgiven]. Al-Hasan said: “When he sensed death, he exerted himself (in another narration: he leaned forward with his chest), so Allah brought the righteous town nearer to him and moved the wicked town farther away from him; thus they joined him with the people of the righteous town.”

Ahmad reported it (3/20 and 72) through Hammad ibn Yahya: Qatadah narrated to us from Abu al-Siddiq al-Naji, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, who said: “I shall narrate to you only what I heard from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. My ears heard it and my heart retained it.” He then related it in full, except for the passage enclosed between the two dashes. Hammad said: Humayd al-Tawil narrated it to me from Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani, from Abu Rafi', and he related that passage. He then returned to Qatadah’s hadith and said: “He said: ‘See ...’”

I say: This is an authentic chain of transmission meeting the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim. Al-Bukhari (6/373—Fath), Muslim (8/104), and al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman (2/352/1) also reported it through Ibn Abi Adi, from Shu'bah, from Qatadah, in abbreviated form. It includes the additional wording, “Allah then inspired ...,” as well as, “He leaned forward with his chest toward it.” Muslim and al-Bayhaqi also reported it (2/352/1) through Mu'adh ibn Hisham, who said: “My father narrated to me from Qatadah ...,” with a more complete version containing all the other additions, except for the phrase “by a handspan.” This phrase is found in his narration through al-Anbari from Shu'bah, and through Ibn Abi Adi from him. The mention of Satan in this account may seem strange, but there is nothing strange about it after the establishment of