An-Nawawi's Forty Hadiths
Hadith 4, 40 Hadith an-Nawawi
عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه و سلم -وَهُوَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ-: "إنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا نُطْفَةً، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ، ثُمَّ يُرْسَلُ إلَيْهِ الْمَلَكُ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ الرُّوحَ، وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ: بِكَتْبِ رِزْقِهِ، وَأَجَلِهِ، وَعَمَلِهِ، وَشَقِيٍّ أَمْ سَعِيدٍ؛ فَوَاَللَّهِ الَّذِي لَا إلَهَ غَيْرُهُ إنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إلَّا ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا. وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إلَّا ذِرَاعٌ فَيَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا". [رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ] ، [وَمُسْلِمٌ] .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
On the authority of Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—the truthful, the one whose truthfulness is affirmed—related to us: “Each of you is brought together in his mother’s womb for forty days as a drop; then he becomes a clinging clot for a like period; then he becomes a morsel of flesh for a like period. Then the angel is sent to him and breathes the spirit into him, and is commanded with four matters: to write down his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or happy. By Allah, other than whom there is no deity, one of you acts with the deeds of the people of Paradise until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then what is written overtakes him, and he acts with the deeds of the people of the Fire and enters it. And one of you acts with the deeds of the people of the Fire until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then what is written overtakes him, and he acts with the deeds of the people of Paradise and enters it.” [Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعِ كَلِمَاتٍ: بِكَتْبِ رِزْقِهِ،
The English witness explains the terms with a parenthetical about entering Paradise, which is not stated in the Arabic wording.
Should that parenthetical remain classified as an interpretation? The translation renders the source terms without it.
[وَمُسْلِمٌ] .
The Arabic text has a stray period after the Muslim attribution.
Can the trailing punctuation be checked against a clean edition?