So when they reach the heaven, they open the door, but it closes upon him, and it is called out: “Return to the earth, since I created you from it, and to it I return you, and from it I shall raise you again.

Muḥammad Ibn al-Nadr informed us saying: Muʿāwiyah Ibn ʿAmr said: Zaa‘idah informed us saying: Sulaymān al-A’mash informed me: al-Minhaal Ibn ʿAmr informed me saying: Zādān informed us saying: al-Baraa‘ informed me saying: We went out with the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam) in the Funeral Prayer for a man from the Ansār (helpers). So we stopped at the grave, and the niche at the side of it had not been dug out yet. So the Messenger of Allāh raised his head to the sky, and then he looked down to the ground and conversed to himself. He said: Then he said: “Seek refuge with Allāh from the Punishment of the Grave,” a few times. Then he said: “Verily when the Muslim man has yet to reach the Hereafter, but he has already been cut off from this world, Angels from the sky descend upon him having faces like the sun. So they sit as far as him as the eye can see, with them are the burial shrouds from the burial shrouds of Paradise, and embalming perfume from the embalming perfumes of Paradise.  So then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head, so he says: “Come out, O good soul to the forgiveness of Allāh and His pleasure.” He said: “So it flows out as a drop flows out [from] a water-skin.  So when he takes it, he does not leave it in his hand for the blinking of an eye.” He said: “And there comes out from him a smell like the best musk to be found upon the face of the earth.

So they ascend with him, and they do not pass by any of the angels except that he says: Who is this good soul?  So they say: This is so and so. So the doors of heavens are open for him, and they follow him through every level of heaven, until they reach the end of the seventh heaven. It is then said: “Write his book in highness (’illiyyeen).”  He said: So it is written.  He said: Then it is said: “Return to the earth, because it is from there that We created you. and it is to there that we return you, and it is from there that We raise you up again.”  So it is returned to his body, then the Angels come to him, then they say to him: Sit.  Who is your Lord?  So he says: My Lord is Allāh.  He said: They say: What is your Religion?  He said: He says: My Religion is Islām.  So they say: Who is this man who was sent amongst you?  He says: He is the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu ʿalayhi wa-sallam).  So they say: How did you come to know of him?  So he says: I read the Book of Allāh, and I believed in it, and I attested to it.  So it will be called out from the heavens: “Indeed he has spoken the truth, so make space for him in Paradise, and clothe him with the clothes of Paradise, and show him his place in Paradise.”  He said: So he will be allowed to see it and his grave will be made spacious for him as far as the eye can see.  A man with beautiful clothes, a handsome face, and a good smell will be presented to him; he will say: “Receive the glad tidings that will please you upon this day that you were promised. So [he] will say: May Allāh have mercy upon you, who are you; because your face seems to represent goodness?  He said: So he says: I am your righteous deeds.”

He said: “However, if he was a disbeliever, Angels with black faces will descend upon him, and with them are coarse woolen cloths.  So they sit as far from him as the eye can see.”  He said: “And the Angel of death comes and sits at his head, so he says: Come out O foul soul to the Anger of Allāh and His displeasure. He said: So he does not like to be taken out of his body.  He said: So he takes it out, he does not leave it in his hand for the blinking of an eye. So the Angels take it in the burial shrouds of coarse woolen cloth. He said: And there emanates from him the most offensive smelling stench like the foulest smelling corpse upon the face of the earth. So they ascend with him, so they do not pass by any one of the Angels, except that he says: Who is this foul soul? He says: “So and so,” using the most evil of names. So when they reach the heaven, they open the door, but it closes upon him, and it is called out: “Return to the earth, since I created you from it, and to it I return you, and from it I shall raise you again.” So he is placed back in his body, so the Angels come to him and they say: Sit.  So they say: Who is your Lord? He said: He says: Haah, [haah], I do not know. So they say: What is your Religion? So he says: Haah, haah, I do not know.  I heard the people speaking. He said: So they say: Who is this man who was sent amongst you?  He said: So it is called out from the sky: “Verily he has lied, so make space for him in the Fire, and clothe him with the clothes of the Fire. And he will be shown his place in the Fire.  He said: So he will see his place in the Fire, and he will be overtaken by its heat and its scorching air, and his grave will be constricted for him, until his ribs start to interlace. And then there will be represented a man with an ugly face, repulsive clothes, and a repugnant smell, so he will say: ‘Woe to you, who are you?  So by Allāh your face seems to resemble evil.’  So he will say: O lord, do not establish the Hour! [O Lord,] do not establish the Hour!”

CHECKING:

Shaykh Ḥamdī ʿAbd al- Majīd as-Salafī says in his checking to al-Aḥādīth al-Ṭuwwāl(p. 59): “It is related by Aḥmad (4/287-288, 295, 296, [no. 18491-18492, 18570, 18571]) and by ʿAbd al-Razzāq (no. 6737), and by Abū Dāwūd al-Tiyālisī (no. 812), and al-Ājurrī in al-Sharīʿah (p. 367-370) and al-Ḥākim (1/37-40), and Abū Dāwūd (no. 4727).  And it is related by Sūrah al-Nisāʾī (4/78), and Abū Dāwūd (no. 3196), and Ibn Mājah (no. 1548-1549), and Aḥmad (4/297), and the first section is from him.  Al-Ḥākim said: It is ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) upon the condition of the two Shaykhs, and al-Dhahabī agreed with him, and the affair is as they say.  It was also declared ṣaḥīḥ by Ibn al-Qayyim after he quoted its authentication from Abī Nuʿaym and other than him.  Refer to ṣallallāhu of our Shaykh, Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī.”

“It is related by Aḥmad (4/287-288, 295, 296, [no. 18491-18492, 18570, 18571]) and by ʿAbd al-Razzāq (no. 6737), and by Abū Dāwūd al-Tiyālisī (no. 812), and al-Ājurrī in al-Sharīʿah (p. 367-370) and al-Ḥākim (1/37-40), and Abū Dāwūd (no. 4727).  And it is related by Sūrah al-Nisāʾī (4/78), and Abū Dāwūd (no. 3196), and Ibn Mājah (no. 1548-1549), and Aḥmad (4/297), and the first section is from him.  Al-Ḥākim said: It is ṣaḥīḥ (authentic) upon the condition of the two Shaykhs, and al-Dhahabī agreed with him, and the affair is as they say.  It was also declared ṣaḥīḥ by Ibn al-Qayyim after he quoted its authentication from Abī Nuʿaym and other than him.  Refer to ṣallallāhu of our Shaykh, Muḥammad Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Albānī.”

Translated by Maaz Qureshi [1]