According to the narration from Mugīra ibn Shuʿba (may Allah be pleased with him),
the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“Mūsā (peace be upon him) asked his Lord:
– What is the lowest rank among the people of Paradise? Allah
Most High said:
– It is the rank of a man who will come after the people of Paradise have entered Paradise, and it will be said to him:
– Enter Paradise!
– O my Lord! Where shall I go, when everyone has settled into their place and taken what is due to them? he will say. It will be said to him:
– Would you be pleased if you were given as much dominion as one of the kings of the world? He will say:
– I am pleased, O my Lord! Then Allah Most High will say to him:
– That dominion is yours. And as much again, and as much again, and as much again, and as much again. At the fifth time, the man will say:
I am pleased, O my Lord! Allah Most High will say to him:
– All of this is yours, and ten times as much is yours. And whatever you desire, and whatever your eye delights in, all of it is yours. When this is said, the man will say:
I am pleased, O my Lord! Then Mūsā (peace be upon him) asked:
O my Lord! What is the highest rank among the people of Paradise? Allah Most High said:
They are those whom I have chosen. I have planted the saplings of their karāma (karāma: a saintly wonder) with My own power and sealed them. The blessings I have prepared for them have never been seen by any eye, nor heard by any ear, nor has it ever occurred to the heart or imagination of anyone.”
Muslim, Īmān 312.
Transmitter
It will be explained together with the following hadith.
1888. According to the narration from Ibn Masʿūd (may Allah be pleased with him),
the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“I know the last person to come out of Hell (or the last to enter Paradise). That man will crawl out of Hell. Allah Most High will say to him:
– Go, enter Paradise. The man will go to Paradise, but it will seem to him as if Paradise is full. He will return and say to Allah Most High:
– O my Lord! Paradise is full to the brim! Allah Most High will say to him:
– Go, enter Paradise. He will go again, but again he will think Paradise is full. He will return once more and say to Allah Most High:
– O my Lord! It is completely full! Allah Most High will again say to him:
– Go, enter Paradise. There you have a place as large as the world and ten times the world (or a place ten times the size of the world). The man will say:
– O my Lord! Even though You are the Sovereign of the universe, are You mocking me? (or are You laughing at my condition?)”
The transmitter of the hadith, Ibn Masʿūd, said: I saw the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) smile until his back teeth were visible. Then he said:
“This is the rank of the man who is at the lowest level among the people of Paradise.”
Bukhārī, Riqāq 51. Tawḥīd 36; Muslim, Īmān 308. See also Ibn Māja, Zuhd 39.
Explanation
These are ḥadīth sharīf in which the mercy of the Lord Most High surges like the seas. In these hadiths, we see how a person who has not left any sin uncommitted in this world, and who has therefore suffered his punishment to the end, is saved by the iman (iman: faith) in his heart, and what our Lord, the Possessor of Generosity, bestows upon him. If the last of the people of Paradise attains such a great blessing, who knows how magnificent will be the ranks and blessings attained by those who enter Paradise before him, especially those who never even pass through Hell. And those whom the Lord Most High has chosen from among His servants and for whom He has personally prepared blessings with His own power—O Allah, how fortunate are such people!
Now let us return to the story of the man who will be the last to come out of Hell and the last to enter Paradise. His adventure is described in detail in a longer hadith (Muslim, Īmān 310). This person, sometimes walking, sometimes falling on his face, sometimes with his face licked by the fire, will come out of Hell, look back, and say to Hell, “Exalted is Allah, who saved me from you. I swear that Allah has given me what He has never given to anyone among the people who have ever lived.” This poor soul, unaware that he is the last fortunate one, will, in his overwhelming joy at being saved from the most bitter torment, think himself the happiest man. Later, he will see a tree ahead and beg to be taken under its shade. When Allah Most High reminds him that if He grants this wish, he may ask for something else, he will promise firmly not to ask for anything more. But then, seeing a much more beautiful tree, he will ask to go under it. Again, a similar conversation will take place between him and Allah Most High, and the third tree he sees and wishes to rest under, and finally reaches, will be near the gate of Paradise. This time, upon hearing the cheerful voices of the people of Paradise, he will beg, “O my Lord! Let me enter there!” The Lord Most High will say to him, “If I were to give you as much as the world, and even as much again, would your endless desires finally come to an end?” Thinking that everyone in Paradise has already taken their place and that there is no such vast space left for him, the man, bewildered by this dizzying offer, will think that Allah Most High is mocking him. The rest of the story is as we have seen above.
Allah Most High’s planting of the saplings of karāma for His chosen servants means that He honors them in a special way. His sealing of these blessings means that He guarantees His generosity to them and will never change it. No information is given about the nature of these blessings; rather, by stating that no one has seen or heard them, nor even imagined them, it is expressed that these are the highest and most unique favors.
There are hadiths concerning those who are the last to come out of Hell that would bring tears of joy to a person’s eyes. All these narrations show the greatness of our Exalted Lord’s love and mercy for His servants, and how much He delights in making them happy. One of these hadiths, in summary, is as follows:
On the Day of Resurrection, Allah Most High will command the angels, “Show My servant who is the last to come out of Hell his minor sins, but do not show him his major sins.” The angels will say to him, “At such and such a time you did this and this, and on such and such a day you did that and that.” The man will not be able to deny what he did and will have to admit to all of it. He will fear, ‘What if my major sins are also revealed—what will I do then?’ But when he is told by Allah Most High that he has been forgiven, and that for every evil deed he did he will be given a reward, the man, overwhelmed with boundless joy at this unexpected reward, will say:
“O my Lord! There are some other things I did that I do not see here.”
Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī (may Allah be pleased with him), who personally heard this hadith from the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him), says that, as in the hadith above, the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed until his back teeth were visible (Muslim, Īmān 313).
These and similar ḥadīth sharīf should encourage us to adhere to the commands of the Lord Most High and increase our efforts to be good servants.
What We Learn from the Hadith
- The generosity and bounty of Allah Most High are without limit or measure.
- Our goal should be to enter among the fortunate ones for whom the Lord Most High has planted the saplings of karāma with His own power.