Sayyiduna Rifa'ah bin Arabah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were returning with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and some people began asking the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for permission (to go to their homes), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) kept granting them permission. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Why is the side of this tree that is next to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) more hateful to you than the other side?" The narrator said: Then there was no one among the people who was not weeping. The narrator said: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said: In my view, whoever asks your permission even after this is a fool. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up, praised and extolled Allah, and said: "I bear witness before Allah (and when he swore an oath, he would say:) by the One in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), whoever of you believes in Allah and then remains steadfast will be made to travel the path into Paradise. My Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has promised me that He will admit seventy thousand of my Ummah into Paradise without reckoning and without punishment, and I hope that they will not enter it until you, and those of your wives and offspring who are righteous, have taken up dwellings in Paradise."
Then he said: "When half of the night (or he said: two-thirds of it) has passed, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, descends to the lowest heaven and says: I ask no one other than Myself about My servants. Who is there who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who is there who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who is there who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him? Until the dawn breaks."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب الراء / 4541