Home > The 40 Hadith of Nawawi > Hadith 23 of Nawawi
Hadith number 23 of the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi, in a faithful English translation.
Updated on 10 September 2026 at 2:45 AM
📖 34 min readThis hadith belongs to the collection of the 40 hadiths of Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him), the most studied hadith compilation in the world: foundations of faith, worship and character, all authentic narrations.
From Yahya ibn Abi Kathir; and this is strengthened by the fact that it is also reported from Abd ar-Rahman ibn Ghannam, from Abu Malik, by another route; Muslim's narration would then be interrupted. In the hadith of Mu'awiya there is some divergence from the hadith of Yahya ibn Abi Kathir; for the wording of his hadith with Ibn Majah is: "Complete ablution is half of faith; praise of Allah fills the balance; glorification and magnification fill the heaven and the earth; prayer is a light; charity is a proof; patience is a radiance; and the Qur'an is a proof for you or against you. All the people go out in the morning: one sells his soul and frees it, another leads it to its ruin." At-Tirmidhi reports the hadith of Yahya ibn Abi Kathir which Muslim reports, and the wording of his hadith: "Ablution is half of faith," the rest of his hadith being like Muslim's context. And Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report from the hadith of a man of Banu Sulaym, who said: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) counted them on his fingers: "Glorification is half of the balance; praise of Allah fills it; magnification fills what is between the heaven and the earth; fasting is half of patience; and purity is half of faith."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Purity is half of faith": some interpreted purity here as leaving sins, as in the word of the Most High:
"They are a people who purify themselves."
Al-Baqara, 222
and the word:
"And your garments, purify."
Al-Muddaththir, 4
and His word:
"Allah loves those who repent, and loves those who purify themselves."
Al-Baqara, 222
And he said: "Faith is of two kinds: deed and leaving: half of it is doing the commanded things, half is leaving the prohibited, which is purifying the soul by leaving disobediences." This view is conceivable, were it not that the version "ablution is half of faith," and likewise "complete ablution," refute it. There is also an observation from the side of meaning: many deeds purify the soul of prior sins, like prayer: why would they not enter the name of purity? And when deeds, or some of them, enter the name of purity, it is no longer established that leaving sins is half of faith.
The correct view, upon which the majority are, is that purity here means purification with water from legal impurities. That is why Muslim begins his report in the chapters of ablution; an-Nasa'i, Ibn Majah and others report it likewise.
On this basis, people diverged over the meaning of purity with water being half of faith:
First, some said: what is meant by half is a portion, not the exact half: purity would be a portion of faith. This is weak, for the linguistic usage of "half" is known for the exact half; and because the hadith of the man of Banu Sulaym says "purity is half of faith," as preceded.
Second, some said: the meaning is that the reward of ablution is raised to half the reward of faith, without multiplication. This is debatable, weak and far-fetched.
Third, some said: faith expiates all the major sins, and ablution expiates the minor ones: it is half of faith in this respect. This is refuted by the hadith "whoever does evil in Islam is taken for what he did in the days of ignorance," already mentioned.
Fourth, some said: ablution expiates sins together with faith, so it became half of faith; this is weak.
Fifth, some said: what is meant by faith here is prayer, as in the word of the Mighty and Majestic:
"Allah would not have let your faith go to waste."
Al-Baqara, 143
meaning your prayers toward Bayt al-Maqdis. If faith means prayer, prayer is accepted only with purity: purity becomes half of faith in this respect. Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazi reports this interpretation in his book on prayer, from Ishaq ibn Rahuwayh, from Yahya ibn Adam; and he would say, on the meaning of their saying: "half of knowledge" is: I know and I do not know, each of the two being half of the other.
I say: everything has two species under it, one of which is its half; whether the two species are equal in number, or one exceeds the other. The hadith indicates it: "I have divided prayer between Myself and My servant into two halves"; what is meant is the recitation of prayer, which is why he explained it by the Fatiha; and what is meant is that it is divided between worship and petition: worship is the Lord's due, petition the servant's due; not that its words are divided equally. Al-Khattabi mentioned this, citing the saying of the Arabs: half of the year is travel, half is residence, without the two times being equal, but on the two times being divided between them though their durations differ. Shurayh said, when asked: "How did you wake?" "I woke and half the people are angry with me!" He means the people are between one ruled for and one ruled against: the one ruled against is angry with him, and the one ruled for is pleased with him: they are two different parties. And the poet says: "When I die, the people will be two halves: one gloating at my death, and one praising what I used to do." Meaning they divide into two parts.
I say: of this meaning is the hadith of Abu Hurayra, in raised form, on the shares of inheritance: they are half of knowledge; Ibn Majah reports it. The rulings of those bound by duty are of two kinds: one pertaining to life, one pertaining to after death: this is the shares of inheritance. Ibn Mas'ud said: the shares of inheritance are a third of knowledge; its basis is the hadith reported by Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah from the hadith of Abd Allah ibn Amr, in raised form: "Knowledge is three things, and all else is surplus: a decisive verse, an established Sunna, or a just inheritance share." Mujahid is reported to have said: "Rinsing the mouth and snuffing the nose are half of ablution"; he perhaps meant that ablution is two parts: one mentioned in the Qur'an, the other taken from the Sunna, which is rinsing and snuffing; or he meant that rinsing and snuffing purify the body's interior, and washing the other limbs purifies its exterior: they are two halves in this respect. Of this is Ibn Mas'ud's saying: "Patience is half of faith, and certainty is faith entire." And in the narration of Yazid ar-Raqashi, from Anas, in raised form: "Faith is two halves: a half in patience, and a half in gratitude."
Since faith includes doing the obligatory and leaving the prohibited, and all that is attained only by patience, patience was said to be half of faith. Likewise it is said of ablution: it is half of prayer. Moreover, prayer expiates sins and faults on condition of complete, well-made ablution: it becomes half of prayer in this respect too. As in the Sahih of Muslim, from Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "No Muslim purifies himself, completes the purification prescribed for him, then prays these five prayers, but that it is an expiation for what is between them." And in a narration of his: "Whoever perfects the ablution as Allah ordered him: the prescribed prayers are expiations for what is between them." Moreover, prayer is the key to Paradise, and ablution the key to prayer, as Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report from the hadith of Jabir, in raised form; and each of ablution and prayer makes the opening of Paradise's gates obligatory, as in the Sahih of Muslim, from Uqba ibn Amir, who heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: "No Muslim performs ablution well, then stands and prays two rak'as, turning to them his heart and face, but that Paradise becomes obligatory for him." And from Uqba, from Umar, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "None of you performs ablution and completes it, then says: I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, but that the eight gates of Paradise are opened for him: he enters by whichever he wills." And in the two authentic collections, from Ubada, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Whoever says: I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, without partner, and that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger, and that Isa is the servant of Allah, the son of His maidservant, His word that He cast into Maryam, and a spirit from Him, and that Paradise is true, and that the Fire is true: Allah will admit him by one of the eight gates of Paradise he wills."
If ablution, with the two testimonies, makes the opening of Paradise's gates obligatory, ablution becomes half of faith in Allah and His messenger in this respect.
Moreover, ablution is among the hidden traits of faith which none keeps but a believer, as in the hadith of Thawban and others, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "None keeps ablution but a believer." And the major ablution from janaba is said in the texts to be discharge of a trust, as al-Aqili reports from the hadith of Abu al-Darda, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Five: whoever comes with them with faith enters Paradise: one who keeps the five prayers, with their ablution, their bowing, their prostration and their times; who gives the zakat of his wealth, his soul content in giving." He used to say: "By Allah, none does that but a believer: the fast of Ramadan, the pilgrimage of the House for whoever finds a way, and discharge of the trust." They said: "O Abu al-Darda! And what is discharge of the trust?" He said: "The major ablution; for Allah entrusts the son of Adam with nothing of his religion besides it." Ibn Majah reports from the hadith of Abu Ayyub, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "The five prayers, and Friday to Friday, and discharge of the trust, are expiations for what is between them." It was said: "And what is discharge of the trust?" He said: "The major ablution; for beneath every hair is a pollution of janaba." The preceding hadith of Abu al-Darda places ablution in it, as part of prayer. And in a hadith reported by al-Bazzar, from the narration of Shababa ibn Sawwar: Mughira ibn Muslim informed us, from al-A'mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra, in raised form: "Prayer is of three thirds: purity a third, bowing a third, prostration a third; whoever performs it as it deserves, it is accepted from him, and all his deed is accepted; and whoever has his prayer rejected, all his deed is rejected." It is said: Mughira alone reports it, and the preserved version from Abu Salih is from Ka'b. On this division, ablution is a third of prayer, unless bowing and prostration are counted as one thing for their closeness in form: ablution would then be half of prayer too.
It may also be said: the traits of faith, of all deeds and words, purify the heart and refine it; while purification with water is specific to purifying the body and cleaning it: the traits of faith become two halves: one purifying the outward, the other the inward: two halves in this respect. And Allah knows best His intent, and the intent of His messenger in all that.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And praise of Allah fills the balance; and Glory to Allah, and praise of Allah fill, or fills, what is between the heavens and the earth": this is a hesitation of the narrator over his wording. In the narration of an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah: "Glorification and magnification fill the heaven and the earth." And in the hadith of the man of Banu Sulaym: "Glorification is half of the balance, praise of Allah fills it, and magnification fills what is between the heaven and the earth." At-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of al-Afriqi, from Abd Allah ibn Yazid, from Abd Allah ibn Amr, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Glorification is half of the balance, and praise of Allah fills it; and there is no veil before Allah to: there is no deity but Allah: it reaches Him." And he said: its isnad is not strong. I say: the isnad to al-Afriqi has been disputed: it is reported from him, from Abu al-Qama, from Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), with the addition: "and Allah is greater, the filling of the heavens and the earth." Ja'far al-Faryabi reports in his book on remembrance and elsewhere, from the hadith of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Praise of Allah fills the balance; Glory to Allah is half of the balance; and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is greater fill the heavens and the earth and what is between them." Al-Faryabi also reports from the hadith of Mu'adh, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Two words: one, whoever says it has no end below the Throne; the other fills what is between the heaven and the earth: there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is greater."
These hadiths have contained the merit of these four words, which are the best of speech: Glory to Allah, praise of Allah, there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is greater.
As for praise, all the hadiths agree that it fills the balance. It has been said this is a likeness, and the meaning: were praise a body, it would fill the balance. And it has been said: rather Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, gives the deeds of the sons of Adam and their words visible forms seen on the Day of Resurrection, which are weighed, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The Qur'an will come on the Day of Resurrection, preceded by al-Baqara and Al Imran like two clouds, or two canopies, or two flocks of birds in ranks." And he said: "Two words beloved to the Merciful, heavy in the balance, light on the tongue: Glory to Allah and praise be to Him; Glory to Allah the Magnificent." And he said: "The heaviest thing placed in the balance is good character." Likewise the believer's righteous deed comes to him in his grave in the most beautiful form; and the disbeliever's deed comes to him in the most hideous form. It is reported that prayer, zakat, fasting and deeds of kindness surround the dead in his grave and defend him; and that the Qur'an ascends and intercedes for him.
As for glorification: in Muslim's narration: "Glory to Allah, and praise of Allah fill, or fills, what is between the heaven and the earth": the narrator doubted what fills the space between the heavens and the earth: the two words, or one of them? In the narration of an-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah: "Glorification and magnification fill the heaven and the earth." This narration is the closer. And is it meant that they together fill the space between the heavens and the earth, or that each of them fills that? Both are conceivable. In the hadith of Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, and the other man: magnification alone fills what is between the heaven and the earth.
In any case, glorification is below praise in merit, as stated explicitly in the hadith of Ali, Abu Hurayra, Abd Allah ibn Amr and the man of Banu Sulaym, may Allah be pleased with them: "Glorification is half of the balance, and praise of Allah fills it." The reason: praise is affirming all praiseworthy things for Allah, including affirming the attributes of perfection and all qualities of majesty; while glorification is declaring Allah free of deficiencies, imperfections and ills: and affirmation is more complete than negation. That is why glorification never comes alone, but joined to what indicates affirming perfection: sometimes coupled with praise, as in "Glory to Allah and praise be to Him; Glory to Allah, and praise to Allah"; sometimes with a name of the names indicating greatness and majesty, as in "Glory to Allah the Magnificent." If Abu Malik's hadith indicates that what fills the space between the heavens and the earth is the sum of glorification and magnification, the matter is plain. And if what is meant is that each fills that, the balance is wider than the space between the heavens and the earth, and what fills the balance is more than what fills the space between the heavens and the earth. The authentic hadith of Salman, may Allah be pleased with him, indicates it: the balance will be set up on the Day of Resurrection: were the heavens and the earth weighed in it, they would fit; the angels say: "Lord! For whom is this weighed?" Allah, the Most High, says: "For whom I will of My creation." The angels say: "Glory to You! We have not worshipped You as You deserve!" Al-Hakim reports it in raised form and authenticated it; but the Companion's-statement version is the famous one.
As for magnification: in the hadith of Abu Hurayra and the man of Banu Sulaym, it alone fills what is between the heaven and the earth. In the hadith of Ali: magnification with the declaration of oneness fills the heavens and the earth and what is between them.
As for the declaration of oneness alone: it reaches Allah without a veil between it and Him. At-Tirmidhi reports from the hadith of Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "No servant says: there is no deity but Allah, with sincerity, but the gates of heaven are opened for it until it reaches the Throne, provided the major sins are avoided." Abu Umama said: "No servant pronounces the declaration of oneness but something holds it below the Throne." And it is said of it: "nothing equals it in the balance," in the famous hadith of the card. Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi and an-Nasa'i report it; and at its end, with Imam Ahmad: "nothing outweighs: In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate." And in the Musnad, from Abd Allah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with both, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said: "Nuh, upon him peace, when death was near, said to his son: I commend to you: there is no deity but Allah; for if the seven heavens were set in one pan, and there is no deity but Allah in the other pan, the latter would outweigh them." And in the same collection, from Abd Allah ibn Amr, may Allah be pleased with both, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: "Musa, upon him peace and salvation, said: Lord! Teach me something by which I remember You and call upon You. He said: O Musa! Say: there is no deity but Allah. He said: all Your servants say this; I want rather something You make special to me. He said: O Musa! Were the seven heavens and their inhabitants besides Me, and the seven earths, in one pan, and there is no deity but Allah in a pan, it would outweigh them."
They diverged: which of the two words is better? The word of praise, or the word of oneness? Ibn Abd al-Barr and others report this divergence. An-Nakha'i said: "They regarded praise as the most multiplied of speech." Ath-Thawri said: "Nothing of speech is multiplied like praise of Allah." Praise contains affirming every kind of perfection for Allah, so oneness enters it. In the Musnad of Imam Ahmad, from Abu Sa'id and Abu Hurayra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah chose from speech four: Glory to Allah, and praise to Allah, and there is no deity but Allah, and Allah is greater. Whoever says: Glory to Allah, twenty good deeds are written for him, or twenty sins are removed from him; whoever says: Allah is greater, the like; whoever says: there is no deity but Allah, the like; and whoever says: praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds, even if he slaughters his soul, thirty good deeds are written for him, or thirty sins removed." It is reported from Ka'b as his statement, and it has been said: it is more correct than the raised version.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And prayer is a light, charity is a proof, patience is a radiance"; in some copies of the Sahih of Muslim: "and fasting is a radiance."
These three kinds of deeds are all lights; but some are specific to a kind of light. Prayer is light absolute. It is reported, by two chains with observation, from Anas, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Prayer is the believer's light." It is for the believers, in this world, a light in their hearts and insights: their hearts shine by it, their insights are illumined. That is why it is the coolness of the eye of the pious: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) used to say: "The coolness of my eye was placed in prayer." Ahmad and an-Nasa'i report it. In a narration: "The hungry is filled, the thirsty is given drink, and I am not sated by the love of prayer." In the Musnad, from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with both: Jibril said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Allah has made prayer beloved to you: take from it what you will." Abu Dawud reports from the hadith of a man of Khuzayma that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O Bilal! Call the prayer and give us rest with it."
Malik ibn Dinar said: "I read in the Torah: O son of Adam! Be not powerless to stand before Me in your prayer, weeping: I am He who brought near your heart, and in the unseen you saw My light." Meaning what opens to the worshiper in prayer of tenderness and weeping. At-Tabarani reports from the hadith of Ubada ibn as-Samit, in raised form: when the servant keeps his prayer, performing its ablution, bowing, prostration and recitation, it says: "May Allah keep you as you kept me"; and it is raised to heaven with a light until it reaches Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and it intercedes for its owner. It is light for the believers in their graves, especially the night prayer: Abu al-Darda used to say: "Pray two rak'as in the darkness of night, for the darkness of the grave." And Rabi'a had neglected her night prayer for a while; someone came to her in her dream reciting to her: "Your prayer is light, and the servants sleep; and your sleep is an obstinate bar to prayer?" And it is, in the Hereafter, light for the believers in the darknesses of the Resurrection, and upon the Bridge: for lights are divided among them according to their deeds. In the Musnad and the Sahih of Ibn Hibban, from Abd Allah ibn Amr, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who mentioned prayer and said: "Whoever keeps it, it is for him a light, a proof and a salvation on the Day of Resurrection; and whoever does not keep it will have neither light, nor proof, nor salvation." At-Tabarani reports, by a chain with observation, from the hadith of Ibn Abbas and Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with both, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Whoever prays the five prayers in congregation crosses the Bridge like brilliant lightning, in the first band of the foremost, and comes on the Day of Resurrection with his face like the moon on the night of the full moon."
As for charity, it is a proof. The proof is the beam that extends from the face of the sun; of this is Abu Musa's hadith: "The spirit of the believer leaves his body with a proof like the sun's proof." The decisive proof was thereby called burhan, for the clarity of its indication of what it indicates. Likewise: charity is a proof of the soundness of faith, and contentment of soul in giving is a sign of the presence of faith's sweetness and taste, as in the hadith of Abd Allah ibn Mu'awiya al-Ghadiri, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Three: whoever does them has tasted the taste of faith: who worships Allah alone and testifies there is no deity but Allah; and who gives the zakat of his wealth, his soul content in it, each year." He mentions the hadith; Abu Dawud reports it. We have already cited Abu al-Darda's hadith of the one who gives the zakat of his wealth with a content soul, and his saying: "none does that but a believer."
The reason is that souls love wealth and are stingy with it: when they become generous in giving it for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, it indicates the soundness of their faith in Allah, His promise and His threat. That is why the Arabs refused the zakat after the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Truthful fought those who withheld it. Prayer, too, is a proof of the soundness of Islam. Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi report from the hadith of Ka'b ibn Ujra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "Prayer is a proof." We mentioned in the commentary of the hadith "I was commanded to fight the people until they testify there is no deity but Allah, that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, establish prayer and give zakat" that prayer is the discriminator between disbelief and Islam. It is also the first thing by which a man is reckoned on the Day of Resurrection: if his prayer is complete, he has succeeded and been saved. And the hadith of Abd Allah ibn Amr preceded: for whoever keeps it, it is a light, a proof and a salvation on the Day of Resurrection.
As for patience, it is a radiance; and the radiance is the light from which a kind of heat and burning results, like the sun's radiance, unlike the moon: it is pure light, shining without burning. Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says:
"It is He who made the sun a radiance, and the moon a light."
Yunus, 5
From here Allah described the Law of Musa as a radiance, as He said:
"We gave Musa and Harun the Discriminant, a radiance and a remembrance for the mindful."
Al-Anbiya, 48
though He mentioned that in the Torah there is a light, as He said:
"We sent down the Torah, in which is guidance and light."
Al-Ma'ida, 44
but what dominates their Law is the radiance, for what it contains of burdens, shackles and loads.
He described the Law of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) as a light, for what it contains of the tolerant, upright religion. Allah, the Most High, says:
"There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear Book."
Al-Ma'ida, 15
And He says:
"Those who follow the messenger, the unlettered prophet, whom they find written with them in the Torah and the Gospel: he enjoins on them what is right and forbids them what is wrong, makes lawful for them the good things and forbids them the foul, and relieves them of their burdens and the shackles that were upon them. Those who believe in him, honor him, aid him and follow the light sent down with him: they are the successful."
Al-A'raf, 157
Patience being hard upon souls, requiring striving against the self, detaining and restraining it from what it desires, it was called a radiance; for patience in the language means detention, of which is "killing the patience": detaining a man until he is killed.
The praised patience is of kinds: patience in obeying Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; patience in refraining from Allah's disobediences; and patience upon Allah's decrees. Patience in acts of obedience and abstention from the prohibited is better than patience upon painful decrees: the predecessors stated this explicitly, among them Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Maymun ibn Mihran. It is reported, by a weak chain, from the hadith of Ali, in raised form, that patience upon calamity has three hundred degrees written for the servant, patience in obedience six hundred degrees, and patience in refraining from disobediences nine hundred degrees. Ibn Abi al-Dunya and Ibn Jarir at-Tabari report it.
The best kind of patience is fasting: it combines patience of the three kinds: it is patience in obedience to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and patience in refraining from Allah's disobediences, for the servant leaves his desires for Allah, and his soul may contest him over them; that is why the authentic hadith says Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says: "Every deed of the son of Adam is for him except fasting: it is for Me and I reward it: he leaves his desire, his food and his drink for My sake." There is also patience upon painful decrees, through what may befall the faster of hunger and thirst. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) named the month of fasting the month of patience. The hadith of the man of Banu Sulaym says from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): fasting is half of patience. Perhaps grasping the secret of its being half of patience is harder than grasping the secret of purity being half of faith. And Allah knows best.
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "And the Qur'an is a proof for you or against you": Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says:
"We send down of the Qur'an what is a healing and a mercy for the believers, and it adds nothing to the wrongdoers but loss."
Al-Isra, 82
Some of the predecessors said: "No one keeps company with the Qur'an but rises from it either gaining or losing." Then he recited this verse. Amr ibn Shu'ayb reports from his father, from his grandfather, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The Qur'an will come on the Day of Resurrection like a man: the man who carried it and contradicted its command is brought, and it appears to him as an adversary, saying: Lord! You burdened him with me: what a poor bearer! He transgressed my limits, wasted my obligations, rode my disobedience and abandoned my obedience." And it does not cease casting proofs upon him until it is said: "See to him"; he takes his hand and does not release him until he throws him down on his muzzle into the Fire. And the righteous man who carried it and kept its command is brought: it appears as a defender for him, saying: Lord! You burdened him with me: what a good bearer! He kept my limits, acted on my obligations, avoided my disobedience and followed my obedience. And it does not cease casting proofs for him until it is said: "See to him"; he takes his hand and does not release him until he clothes him in a brocade garment, crowns him with the crown of kingship, and gives him to drink the cup of wine.
Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The Qur'an is an intercessor whose intercession is granted, and a pleader who is believed: whoever places it before him, it leads him to Paradise; whoever places it behind his back, it leads him to the Fire." And from him: "The Qur'an will come on the Day of Resurrection and intercede for its companion, becoming a guide to Paradise; or it will rush upon him, becoming a driver to the Fire." Abu Musa al-Ash'ari said: "This Qur'an will be for you a reward, or against you a burden: follow the Qur'an, and let not the Qur'an follow you: whoever follows the Qur'an is set down in the gardens of Paradise; and whoever the Qur'an follows sinks on his nape, and it casts him into the Fire."
His saying (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "All the people go out in the morning: one sells his soul and frees it, another leads it to its ruin." Imam Ahmad and Ibn Hibban report from the hadith of Ka'b ibn Ujra, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The people are two kinds of goers: one sells his soul and frees it, another leads it to its ruin." In another version, reported by at-Tabarani: "The people are two kinds of goers: one sells his soul and leads it to its ruin, the other offers it and frees it." And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, says:
"By the soul and He who proportioned it, and inspired it its wickedness and its piety: he has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who burdens it."
Ash-Shams, 7-10
Meaning: succeeded is he who adorns his soul with obedience to Allah, and failed is he who burdens it with disobediences. Obedience adorns the soul and purifies it, and it rises by it; and disobediences burden the soul and crush it, and it sinks: it becomes like one trampled into the dust.
The hadith indicates that every man is either striving for his soul's ruin or for its release: whoever strives in obedience to Allah has sold his soul to Allah and freed it from His punishment; and whoever strives in disobedience to Allah has sold his soul for humiliation and ruined it by sins that draw Allah's anger and punishment. Allah, the Most High, says:
"Allah has bought from the believers their lives and their wealth, that Paradise is theirs: they fight in the path of Allah, kill and are killed; a promise binding on Him in truth, in the Torah, the Gospel and the Qur'an; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice then in the bargain you have made: that is the mighty triumph."
At-Tawba, 111
And the Most High says:
"And of the people is he who sells his own soul, seeking the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is kind to the servants."
Al-Baqara, 207
And the Most High says:
"Say: the losers are those who lose on the Day of Resurrection, themselves and their families: that is indeed the manifest loss."
Az-Zumar, 15
In the two authentic collections, from Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when Allah sent down upon him:
"And warn your nearest kin."
Ash-Shu'ara, 214
said: "O people of Quraysh! Buy your souls from Allah: I avail you nothing against Allah. O sons of Abd al-Muttalib! I avail you nothing against Allah." In al-Bukhari's version: "O sons of Abd Manaf! Buy your souls from Allah. O sons of Abd al-Muttalib! Buy your souls from Allah: I avail you nothing against Allah. O aunt of the Messenger of Allah! O Fatima, daughter of Muhammad! Buy your two souls from Allah: I own nothing for you two against Allah." In a narration of Muslim: he called Quraysh, they gathered, and he spoke generally and specifically, saying: "O sons of Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy! Save your souls from the Fire. O sons of Murra ibn Ka'b! Save your souls from the Fire. O sons of Abd Shams! Save your souls from the Fire. O sons of Abd Manaf! Save your souls from the Fire. O sons of Hashim! Save your souls from the Fire. O sons of Abd al-Muttalib! Save your souls from the Fire. O Fatima! Save your soul from the Fire: I own nothing for you against Allah."
At-Tabarani and al-Khara'iti report from the hadith of Ibn Abbas, in raised form: "Whoever says upon rising in the morning: Glory to Allah and praise be to Him, a thousand times, has bought his soul from Allah, the Most High, and will be, at the end of his day, freed from the Fire." A group of the predecessors bought their souls from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, with their wealth: one gave all his wealth in charity, like Habib ibn Abi Muhammad; another gave his weight in silver three or four times, like Khalid ibn at-Tahhan; another strove in righteous deeds and said: "I am a captive striving to free my neck," among them Amr ibn Utba; another glorified each day twelve thousand times, the measure of his blood-money, as if he had slain his soul and sought to ransom it with its price. Al-Hasan said: "The believer in this world is like the captive striving to free his neck: he deems nothing secure until he meets Allah, the Most High." And he said: "O son of Adam! You go out in the morning and return at night seeking profits: let your concern be your soul, for you will never gain the like of it." Abu Bakr ibn Ayyash said: "A man said to me once, when I was young: Free your neck as much as you can in this world from the servitude of the Hereafter, for the captive of the Hereafter is never released." He said: "By Allah, I have never forgotten it since!" Some of the predecessors wept and said: "I do not have two souls: I have only one; when it goes, I find no other." Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya said: "Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has made Paradise the price of your souls: sell them not for anything else." He also said: "He who honors his soul, the world has no worth in his eyes." He was asked: "Who is the greatest of people in worth?" He said: "He who sees in the whole world no profit for his soul." Some of the ancients recited: "I swear by the precious soul, its Lord, that it has no price among all creation... If I seize it, and I seize it... And if I sell it for a thing of the world, that is the loss: if my soul departs, and I gain a world... my soul is gone, and the price gone with it."