English Translation

Yazid ibn Harun told us, Jarir ibn Hazim informed us: I heard Abu Raja' al-Utaridi relating from Samurah ibn Jundub, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, whenever he prayed the morning prayer, would turn his face to us and say, 'Did any of you see a vision tonight?' If someone had seen a vision that night, he would relate it, and the Prophet would say of it what Allah willed him to say. One day he asked us, 'Did any of you see a vision tonight?' We said, 'No.' He said, 'But I saw two men come to me; they took me by the hand and brought me out to an open, level land. They passed me by a man, with another man standing over his head holding an iron hook, which he thrust into the corner of his mouth and tore it open until it reached the back of his neck, then he pulled it out and did the same to the other side, and the first side healed and he kept doing that to him. I said, 'What is this?' They said, 'Go on.' So I went on with them, and there was a man lying on his back, and another man standing over him with a rock or a boulder, and he crushed his head with it; the stone rolled away, and when he went to fetch it, the man's head returned to how it was, and he did the same again. I said, 'What is this?' They said to me, 'Go on.' So I went on with them, and there was a structure built like a tannur (clay oven), narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, with a fire lit beneath it; inside it were naked men and women. When the fire was kindled they were raised up until they nearly came out, and when it died down they went back into it. I said, 'What is this?' They said to me, 'Go on.' So I went on, and there was a river of blood, with a man in it, and on the bank of the river stood a man with stones before him. The man in the river would come forward, and when he drew near to come out, the man on the bank would throw a stone into his mouth and he would go back to his place, and he kept doing that to him. I said, 'What is this?' They said, 'Go on.' So I went on, and there was a green meadow with a huge tree in it, and an old man at its base surrounded by children, and near it a man with a fire before him which he was stoking and kindling. They took me up into the tree and brought me into a house, the like of which for beauty I had never seen; in it were old men and youths, women and children. They brought me out of it and took me up into the tree again and brought me into a house even more beautiful and excellent than it, in which were old men and youths. I said to the two of them, 'You have taken me around all night; now tell me about what I have seen.' They said, 'Yes. As for the first man you saw, he is a liar who tells a lie which is carried to the horizons, and he will be treated as you saw until the Day of Resurrection, and then Allah, Blessed and Exalted, will do with him as He wills. As for the man you saw lying on his back, he is a man to whom Allah, Blessed and Exalted, gave the Qur'an, but he slept through the night without reciting it and did not act upon it by day, and he will be treated as you saw until the Day of Resurrection. As for those you saw in the oven, they are the fornicators. As for the one you saw in the river, that is the eater of usury. As for the old man you saw at the base of the tree, that is Abraham, peace be upon him, and the children you saw are the children of people (who died in a state of natural faith). As for the man kindling and stoking the fire, that is Malik, the keeper of Hellfire, and that was Hellfire. As for the first house you entered, that is the house of the common believers, and the other house is the house of the martyrs. I am Gabriel, and this is Michael.' Then they said to me, 'Raise your head,' and I raised my head, and there was something like a cloud. They said to me, 'That is your house.' I said to them, 'Let me enter my house.' They said to me, 'You still have work left which you have not completed; had you completed it, you would have entered your house.'