English Translation

Ibn Fudayl narrated to us: Ata ibn al-Sa'ib narrated from his father from Abdullah ibn Amr who said: The sun was eclipsed during the time of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He stood and we stood with him, and he prolonged the standing until we thought he would not bow. Then he bowed, and he hardly raised his head. Then he raised it and hardly prostrated. Then he prostrated and hardly raised his head. Then he sat and hardly prostrated again. Then he prostrated and hardly raised his head. He did the same in the second rak'ah as in the first, and he was blowing on the ground and weeping while prostrating in the second rak'ah, saying: O Lord, why do You punish them while I am among them? O Lord, why do You punish us while we seek Your forgiveness? Then he raised his head and the sun had cleared. He completed his prayer, praised Allah and extolled Him, then said: O people, the sun and the moon are two signs from the signs of Allah the Almighty. When either of them is eclipsed, hasten to the mosques. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, Paradise was presented to me until had I wished I could have plucked some of its branches. And the Fire was presented to me until I was trying to extinguish it fearing it would overwhelm you. I saw in it a tall black woman from Himyar being punished because of a cat she had tied up; she did not feed it, nor give it water, nor let it eat from the creatures of the earth. Every time it turned toward her, it bit her, and every time it turned away, it bit her. And I saw in it the brother of Banu Da'da', and I saw the man with the hooked stick leaning on his stick in the Fire — he used to steal from pilgrims with his hook, and when they caught him, he would say: I did not steal from you; it only got caught on my hook.