Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 10518 — I debated with the Qadariyyah

Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali said: I debated with the Qadariyyah (those who deny divine decree), and they put me in difficulty. So I came to Sayyiduna Imran bin al-Husayn al-Khuza'i (may Allah be pleased with him), the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and said: O Abu Nujayd! I debated with the Qadariyyah and they put me in difficulty; do you have any hadith to narrate to me, by which perhaps Allah will benefit me? He said: Perhaps if I narrate a hadith to you, you will close your ears to it as though you had not heard it. I said: That is exactly why I have come. He said: If Allah were to punish the inhabitants of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth, He would punish them without being unjust; and if He were to admit them into His mercy, His mercy would be far more vast for them than their sins. It is just as Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: "He punishes whom He wills and forgives whom He wills" [Surah al-Ma'idah: 40]. So whoever is punished, that is the truth, and whoever is shown mercy, that too is the truth. And if one of you had mountains of gold or silver and spent them in the way of Allah, then did not believe in divine decree, its good and its evil, it would be of no benefit to him. (Abu al-Aswad said:) So I came to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and asked him. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Ubayy bin Ka'b (may Allah be pleased with him): O Abu al-Mundhir, tell him. Sayyiduna Ubayy (may Allah be pleased with him) said: O Abu Abd al-Rahman, you tell him. So Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) a hadith just like the hadith of Sayyiduna Imran bin Husayn (may Allah be pleased with him).