Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 18496

Abu Ka'b narrates: I said to Nadr, the son of Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): "Narrate to me a hadith through which Allah Almighty will benefit me." He said: "Very well, I will narrate to you a hadith which they wrote and sent to us from Madinah." Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Preserve this, for it is one of the treasures of hadith." He related: "Once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went out on a military expedition. He travelled all day until night came. When night came, he made camp and the people camped around him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him), the husband of Sayyidah Umm Sulaym (may Allah be pleased with her), and so-and-so and so-and-so, these four people, went to sleep. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made a pillow of his mount's foreleg and slept, and the other four also slept beside him. When part of the night had passed and they raised their heads, they did not see the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) (so they set out searching for him), until they met the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) coming towards them. They said: 'May Allah make us your ransom! Where were you? When we did not see you, we became alarmed for you.' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'I was asleep, as you saw. In my sleep I heard a sound like the humming of a millstone (the narrator is unsure, or perhaps the words are:) like the sound of a turning millstone. I was startled awake from my sleep; I got up and set off, and Jibril came before me and said: "O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Allah Almighty has just sent me to you to give you a choice, so choose (one of two options): either half of your Ummah enters Paradise, or intercession on the Day of Resurrection." (The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:) So I chose intercession for my Ummah.'" Those four people said: "O Prophet of Allah! Include us too among those for whom you will intercede." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It has become guaranteed for you." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and those four people came back, and they met ten people, who asked: "Where was our Prophet, the Prophet of mercy?" The narrator says: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told those people too what he had already told the others, and they too said: "May Allah make us your ransom! Include us too among those for whom you will intercede on the Day of Resurrection." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It has become guaranteed for you." Then all of them came to the rest of the people and announced among them: "This is our Prophet, the Prophet of mercy." After that they told the rest of the people too about the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and all of them called out loudly: "May Allah make us your ransom! Include us too among those for whom you will intercede on the Day of Resurrection." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called out loudly three times: "I call Allah Almighty to witness, and I call whoever is listening to witness, and I say: my intercession will reach every person who dies in such a state that he does not associate anyone with Allah Almighty."
At-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat. Its chain contains a narrator, Ali bin Qurrah bin Habib, whom I do not know; the rest of its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).