Mishkat al-Masabih

Mishkat al-Masabih 82

Arabic hadith text

عَن عبد الله بن مَسْعُود قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَهُوَ الصَّادِق المصدوق: «إِن أحدكُم يجمع خلقه فِي بطن أمه أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا ثمَّ يكون فِي ذَلِك علقَة مثل ذَلِك ثمَّ يكون فِي ذَلِك مُضْغَة مثل ذَلِك ثمَّ يُرْسل الْملك فينفخ فِيهِ الرّوح وَيُؤمر بِأَرْبَع كَلِمَات بكتب رزقه وأجله وَعَمله وشقي أَو سعيد فوالذي لَا إِلَه غَيره إِن أحدكُم لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلَّا ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا»

Translation

ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud reported: The Messenger of God, the truthful and affirmed as truthful, told us, “Each of you is formed in his mother’s womb for forty days. Then he becomes a clinging clot for an equal period, then a lump of flesh for an equal period. Then the angel is sent to him, breathes the spirit into him, and is commanded to write four things: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or happy. By the One besides whom there is no god, one of you may do the deeds of the people of Paradise until only a cubit separates him from it, then what is written overtakes him; he does the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you may do the deeds of the people of the Fire until only a cubit separates him from it, then what is written overtakes him; he does the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.”