Al-Tirmidhi records—with a chain he judged sound—that Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘Allah, the Exalted, has declared: Son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins filling the earth, then meet Me without associating anything with Me, I would come to you with forgiveness equal to it.’” (1)
— Anas: He is Anas ibn Malik ibn al-Naḍr al-Anṣari al-Khazraji, the servant of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He served the Prophet for ten years, and the Prophet supplicated for him, saying, “O Allah, increase his wealth and offspring and admit him into Paradise.” He died in 92 AH—some say 93 AH—having lived past one hundred years.
— “Reported by al-Tirmidhi and he graded it ḥasan”: that is, the hadith appears in his Sunan and he deemed its chain good.
— Qurāb: with ḍamma on the qāf—and some read it with kasra, though the ḍamma is more common—means “its full measure” or “that which nearly fills it.”
— “Then you meet Me without associating anything with Me”: meaning, you die free of polytheism; this is the condition upon which the promise of forgiveness rests.
— Maghfirah (forgiveness): linguistically, al-ghafr is “to cover”; in the legal sense it is Allah’s overlooking the sins and faults of His servants.
- Overall meaning of the hadith: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) relates from his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, that