Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “Whoever wishes to look at the testament of Muhammad ﷺ upon which his seal is set should read Allah’s words: ‘Say, Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden for you…’ up to His words, ‘and indeed this is My straight path, so follow it’ (1) (2) — the passage in Sūrah al-Anʿām, verses 151–153.
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Ibn Masʿūd: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd ibn Ghāfil ibn Ḥabīb al-Hudhalī, a noble Companion from the earliest believers, one of the leading scholars among the Companions, who remained in close company with the Prophet ﷺ and died d. 32 AH.
waṣiyyah (testament): a firm, emphatically confirmed command.
khātam (seal/ring): a ring set with a stone that is different from the band itself. “I sealed (khatamtu) a letter” means “I stamped it.”
Overall meaning of the report: Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him) states that
(1) Reported by al-Tirmidhi, no. 3080, and al-Tabarani in al-Mujam al-Awsat, no. 1208. Abu Isa said: “This is a sound, uncommon hadith.”
(2) Ibn Masud, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, drew a line for us, then drew lines to its right and left. He then said: “This is Allah’s path, and these are the paths; upon every one of them is a devil calling to it.” He then recited: “This is My straight path, so follow it; and do not follow the [other] paths, lest they lead you away from His path.”
Reported by Ahmad in al-Musnad, 1:435, 465; Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, 1:105, nos. 6–7; and al-Hakim, 2:318, who said: “This hadith has a sound chain of transmission, though al-Bukhari and Muslim did not report it.”
Al-Haythami said in Majma al-Zawaid, 7:22: “It was reported by Ahmad and al-Bazzar. Its chain includes Asim ibn Bahdalah, who is trustworthy, though he has some weakness.”