Mishkat al-Masabih 29

Muadh ibn Jabal reported: I was with the Prophet on a journey. One morning, as I was close to him while we were traveling, I said, “Messenger of God, tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise and keep me far from the Fire.” He said, “You have asked me about something momentous, yet it is easy for one for whom God makes it easy: worship God and associate nothing with Him; establish the prayer; give the zakat; fast Ramadan; and make pilgrimage to the House.” Then he said, “Shall I direct you to the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield; charity extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire; and a man’s prayer in the middle of the night.” Then he recited, “Their sides withdraw from their beds,” until he reached, “they used to do.” Then he said, “Shall I direct you to the head of the whole matter, its pillar, and the peak of its summit?” I said, “Yes, Messenger of God.” He said, “The head of the matter is Islam, its pillar is prayer, and the peak of its summit is striving.” Then he said, “Shall I tell you what governs all of that?” I said, “Yes, Prophet of God.” He took hold of his tongue and said, “Restrain this.” I said, “Prophet of God, will we really be held to account for what we say?” He said, “May your mother lose you, Muadh! What else topples people into the Fire on their faces—or on their noses—except the harvests of their tongues?” Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Majah narrated it.