English Translation

'Affan narrated to us: Aban al-'Attar narrated to us: Qatadah narrated to us, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanm, from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari, that he gathered his companions and said: 'Come, let me pray for you the prayer of the Prophet of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him' — he said: and he was a man from the Ash'aris — he said: so he called for a basin of water and washed his hands three times, rinsed his mouth and inhaled water into his nose, washed his face three times, his forearms three times, wiped over his head and his ears, and washed his feet. He said: then he prayed the noon prayer (al-Zuhr), reciting in it the Opening of the Book (al-Fatihah), and he said 'Allahu Akbar' twenty-two times. 'Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us: Ma'mar informed us, from Ibn Abi Husayn, from Shahr ibn Hawshab, from 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghanm, from Abu Malik al-Ash'ari, who said: I was with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when there was revealed to him: {O you who believe, do not ask about things which, if made clear to you, would trouble you}. He said: so we used to ask him — or he said: 'Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has servants who are neither prophets nor martyrs, whom the prophets and the martyrs envy for their seat and their nearness to Allah on the Day of Resurrection' — and he mentioned the hadith in full.