Forty Hadith Qudsi
Hadith 32, 40 Hadith Qudsi
عَنْ أَبي هُرَيْرَةَ ، رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ ، عَنِ النَّبَيِّ صَلَّى الله عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ ، قَالَ : أَسْرَفَ رَجُلٌ عَلي نَفْسِهِ ، فَلَمَّا حَضَرَهُ المَوْتُ أَوْصَى بَنِيه ، فَقَالَ : إِذَا أَنَا مِتُّ فَأَحْرِقُوني ، ثُمَّ اسْحَقُوني ، ثُمَّ أَذْرُوني في البَحْرِ فَوَاللهِ لَئِنْ قَدَرَ عَلَيَّ رَبِّي لَيُعَذَّبَنِّي عَذَاباً ، مَا عَذَّبَهُ أَحَداً ، فَفَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ بِهِ . فَقَالَ لِلْأَرْضِ : أَدِّي مَا أَخَذْتِ ، فَإِذا هُوَ قَائِمٌ ، فَقَالَ لَهُ : مَا حَمَلَكَ عَلَي مَا صَنَعْتَ ؟ قَالَ : خَشْيَتُكَ يَا رَبِّ ، أَوْ مَخَافَتُكَ . فَغَفَرَ لَهُ بِذَلِكَ . رواهُ مسلم (وكذلك البخاري والنسائي وابن ماجه)
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
‘A man had greatly wronged himself. When death came to him, he charged his sons: “When I die, burn me, then grind me up, then scatter me in the sea. By Allah, if my Lord should have power over me, He will punish me with a punishment unlike any He has inflicted on anyone.”’ They did that to him. Then He said to the earth, ‘Return what you took,’ and there he was, standing. He said to him, ‘What made you do what you did?’ He replied, ‘Fear of You, my Lord’—or he said, ‘Dread of You.’ So He forgave him for that.
It was related by Muslim (and likewise by al-Bukhari, al-Nasa’i, and Ibn Majah).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
ثُمَّ أَذْرُوني في البَحْرِ فَوَاللهِ لَئِنْ قَدَرَ عَلَيَّ رَبِّي لَيُعَذَّبَنِّي عَذَاباً ،
The Arabic says لَئِنْ قَدَرَ عَلَيَّ رَبِّي, literally ‘if my Lord has power over me’; the witness renders it ‘if my Lord takes possession of me.’ The precise intended force should not be settled from the English witness alone.
Which rendering best preserves the wording while avoiding an unsupported interpretive resolution?