“While he was walking behind the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—his companions, or some of them, nudged him. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
‘By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, Abdullah will weigh heavier in the scales on the Day of Resurrection than Mount Uhud.’
It seems that they were astonished by his slight build!”
I say: This is another incident—as is evident—if it is authentic, for I have found no mention of this Sarah in any of the biographical works available to me. And Allah knows best.
I then found a fifth route for it, but it too is feeble: Sharik narrated from Jabir, from Abu al-Duha, from al-Azhar ibn al-Aswad, from Abdullah ibn Masud, who said:
“I climbed an arak tree to gather a siwak from it—the original reads: ‘arak tree’—and my companions began to marvel at how slight I was. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
‘What are you marveling at? By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, he will weigh heavier in the scales on the Day of Resurrection than Mount Uhud.’”
It was recorded by al-Tabarani (9/97/8517).
This Jabir is Jabir ibn Yazid al-Jufi, and he is abandoned. I have found no one who mentions al-Azhar ibn al-Aswad.
- As for the hadith of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him: Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl ibn Ghazwan narrates from al-Mughirah, from Umm Musa, who said: I heard Ali say: The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—commanded Abdullah ibn Masud to climb a tree and bring him something from it. His companions looked at Abdullah’s leg and laughed at the thinness of his calves. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “What are you laughing at? Abdullah’s leg will weigh heavier in the scales than Mount Uhud.”