- Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: “When My servant loves to meet Me, I love to meet him; and when he dislikes meeting Me, I dislike meeting him.”
It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, through several chains:
The first: from al-A‘raj, from him.
It was recorded by Malik and al-Nasa’i (1835—Abu Ghuddah) through his route and through others, and by Ahmad (2/418).
I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.
The second: from Shurayh ibn Hani’, from him, with this wording. He said:
I went to Aishah and said, “O Mother of the Believers, I heard Abu Hurayrah relate a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, which, if it is as he said, means that we are ruined.” She replied, “The one who is ruined is he who is ruined by the words of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. What is it?”
He said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: …—and he mentioned the hadith—“Yet none of us is there who does not dislike death!” She said, “The Messenger of Allah did say it, but it is not as you understand it. Rather, when the gaze becomes fixed, the chest begins to rattle, the skin shudders, and the fingers contract, then: ‘Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him; and whoever dislikes meeting Allah, Allah dislikes meeting him.’”
It was recorded by Muslim (8/66) and al-Nasa’i (1834).
The third: from Muhammad ibn Amr, from Abu Salamah, from Abu Hurayrah, who narrated it from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with this wording. It was recorded by Ahmad (2/451). Its chain is good.
Note: In al-Targhib (4/168/3), al-Mundhiri attributed the hadith to:
“Malik, al-Bukhari—the wording is his—Muslim, and al-Nasa’i.” He cited it with the wording: “He said: