Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that we were sitting in the company of Sayyiduna Umar Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him) when he asked, “Does anyone among you remember any hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding tribulation (fitnah)?” I said, “I remember it just as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated it.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “You were very bold in asking the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about tribulations.” I said, “A man’s family, wealth, children, and neighbors are all sources of tribulation for him, and prayer, fasting, charity, enjoining good, and forbidding evil are expiations for these tribulations.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I am not asking you about this. Tell me about the tribulation which will surge like the waves of the sea.” At this I said, “O Commander of the Faithful, do not fear it, for there is a closed door between you and that tribulation.” He asked, “Will that door be broken or simply opened?” I said, “It will be broken.” Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) exclaimed, “Then it will never be closed again.” (Shaqiq, the narrator of the hadith, said) We asked Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him), “Did Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) have knowledge about what the door was?” He replied, “Yes, just as one knows that night comes after day. I have narrated to you a hadith that is absolutely true.” (The narrator says) We were afraid to ask Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) about what was meant by the door, so we said to Hazrat Masruq (may Allah have mercy on him) to ask. When he inquired, Hudhayfah replied, “The door was none other than Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) himself.”