Fath al-Rabbani

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: Ubaydullah bin Ziyad summoned me, and when I went to him, he said: What are these kinds of hadiths you narrate from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), of which there is no mention in the Book of Allah? You state that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) will have a pond in Paradise. Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us about this and also promised it to us. Ubaydullah said: You are wrong, you have grown old and your mind has gone. Sayyiduna Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) said: My ears heard this from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and my heart remembered it, and I also know this statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): Whoever deliberately attributes a lie to me, let him prepare his abode in Hell, and I do not lie against the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Buraidah Aslami رضي الله عنه reports that Ubaidullah bin Ziyad began to have doubts about the Hawd (the Prophet’s Pond), so he summoned Sayyiduna Abu Barzah Aslami رضي الله عنه. When he went to him, his companions said to him: The Amir has called you so that we may ask you about the Hawd—did you hear anything from the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم regarding the Hawd? He said: Yes, I heard the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم mention it, and whoever denies it, Allah Almighty will not let him drink from it.

Abu Talut Anazi narrates: He says, I saw Sayyiduna Abu Barzah Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him) in a state of anger, while he was coming out from the presence of Ubaydullah bin Ziyad and saying: I never thought that I would have to see such days in my life that people would reproach me for the companionship of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). They say about me: This is your short and fat Muhammadan. Whereas I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioning the Hawd (the Pond), now whoever denies this Hawd, Allah Almighty will not let him drink from it.

Abdullah bin Buraidah narrates that Ubaidullah bin Ziyad had doubts about the Hawd al-Kawthar. Among his companions, a person named Abu Sabrah said to him: When your father went to Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) as part of a delegation, I was also with him. I met Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him), and he narrated a hadith to me directly, which he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He dictated it to me, and I wrote it down. Ubaidullah said: I swear by Allah, I ask you to ride this mule so fast that it sweats, and in this way, bring that writing to me. Abu Sabrah says: I mounted the mule and spurred it on until it sweated profusely, and I brought that writing back to him. It was written in it that Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Allah Almighty greatly dislikes obscene speech and deliberately obscene talk. By the One in whose hand is the life of Muhammad! The Hour will not be established until it happens that the trustworthy will be considered treacherous and the treacherous will be considered trustworthy, obscene speech and deliberate obscenity will become widespread, and severing of ties and mistreatment of neighbors will also become common. By the One in whose hand is the life of Muhammad! The example of a believer is like a piece of gold: if its owner blows on it, it neither changes nor decreases in value. By the One in whose hand is the life of Muhammad! The example of a believer is like that of a honeybee: it eats what is pure and produces what is pure; wherever it sits, it neither breaks anything nor spoils it. Then he said: Beware! In the Hereafter, I will have a Hawd (cistern), the distance between its two banks will be as much as the distance between Aylah and Makkah, or between Sana'a and Madinah, and the number of drinking vessels there will be more than the stars. The water of the Hawd will be whiter than milk and sweeter than honey; whoever drinks from it once will never feel thirst again. Abu Sabrah says: Ubaidullah bin Ziyad took that writing, and I became anxious. After that, I met Yahya bin Ya'mar and expressed this matter to him. He said: By Allah, I remember this hadith even more than a Qur'anic surah. Then he narrated the hadith to me exactly as it was written in that book.

(Second chain) Abu Sabrah says: Ubaidullah bin Ziyad used to keep inquiring about the Hawd (Pond) of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He had already asked about it from Sayyiduna Abu Barzah, Sayyiduna Bara’ bin Azib, Sayyiduna ‘Aiz bin Amr, and another companion, yet he would still deny it. One day, Abu Sabrah said to him: I will narrate to you a hadith in which the solution to your confusion is present. Your father sent me to Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) after giving me some wealth. There I met Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), who narrated to me the ahadith he had heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and also dictated them to me. I wrote down those ahadith with my own hand, not omitting or adding even a single letter. He narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Allah Almighty does not like obscene speech... The rest of the hadith is like the first hadith, except that it adds: Beware! Your meeting with me will be at my Hawd. Its length and width are equal; it is as vast as the distance from Aylah to Makkah Mukarramah, which is a month's journey. There will be drinking vessels there as numerous as the stars in the sky. The water of this Hawd will be whiter than silver. Whoever drinks from it once will never feel thirst again. Upon hearing this hadith, Ubaidullah bin Ziyad said: I have not heard a more authentic and strong hadith about the Hawd of Kawthar than this. Then he affirmed it and kept that scroll (book) with him.