Abd al-Rahman bin Abi Layla from Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him)

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the people of Paradise have entered Paradise and the people of Hell have entered Hell, a caller will call out: O people of Paradise, you have a promise with Allah which He wishes to fulfil for you. They will say: What is it? Has He not made our scales heavy, made our faces bright, admitted us into Paradise and saved us from Hell? He said: Then the veil will be lifted and they will look at Allah. By the One in whose hand is my soul, they will not have been given anything dearer to them than looking at Allah."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recited this verse: "For those who do good is the best reward and more" [Surah Yunus: 26], then said: "When the people of Paradise enter Paradise," and then he narrated a hadith similar to the one that preceded.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I marvel at Allah's decree for the Muslim: all of it is good for him. If something pleasing befalls him, he gives thanks, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, rewards him; and if hardship befalls him, he is patient, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, rewards him." Hammad (may Allah have mercy on him) added in it: "And every decree that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, decrees for the Muslim is good."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I prayed one of the two evening prayers with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When he (peace and blessings be upon him) finished, he (peace and blessings be upon him) turned his face towards us smiling and said: "Will you not ask me why I laughed?" The Companions said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I marvel at Allah's decree for the Muslim servant: whatever Allah decrees for him is good, and there is no one for whom every decree of Allah is good except the Muslim servant."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that during the days of Hunayn, after praying the morning prayer, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) used to move his lips with something. We said: O Messenger of Allah, you keep moving your lips with something after the morning prayer, though you did not use to do so? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There was a prophet before us who was delighted by the great number of his nation, and he said: These will not last forever, and I think he said something more. So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to him: The best of your nation face one of three things: either I set death upon them, or an enemy, or hunger. He put this before them, and they said: As for hunger, we have no strength for it, and we have no strength for an enemy, but death (we accept). So seventy thousand of them died in three days. And today I say: O Allah, by You I strive, by You I attack, and by You I fight."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed the afternoon prayer (Asr), he would do 'hams', and 'hams', according to some, means moving the lips as though saying something. It was said to him (peace and blessings be upon him): O Prophet of Allah, when you pray the afternoon prayer, you do 'hams'? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One of the prophets was delighted with his nation, and he said: Who can stand against these? So Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to him: Give them the choice between My taking vengeance on them and My setting their enemy upon them. They chose vengeance, so death was set upon them, and seventy thousand of them died in a single day."
The narrator said: Whenever he (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated this hadith, he (peace and blessings be upon him) would also narrate this other hadith. He said: "There was a king among the kings, and that king had a soothsayer who practised soothsaying for him. That soothsayer said: Find me an intelligent boy, or he said: a quick-witted one, so that I may teach him this knowledge of mine, for I fear that I will die and this knowledge will be cut off from you, and there will be no one among you who knows it. So they found a boy with the qualities he had described, and ordered him to attend upon that soothsayer and to go to him regularly. He said: On the boy's way there was a monk in a hermitage. Ma'mar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I think that the people of the hermitages were Muslims at that time. Whenever the boy passed by the monk, he would ask him about his religion, until he told him, saying: I worship only Allah. So the boy began to stay with the monk and to be late to the soothsayer. The soothsayer sent word to the boy's family that he hardly ever attends upon me. The boy told the monk of this, and the monk said to him: When the soothsayer asks you: Where were you? say: With my family. And when your family ask you: Where were you? say: With the soothsayer. While the boy was in this state, he passed by a large crowd of people whom a beast had held back, and some of them said: That beast was a lion. The boy took a stone and said: O Allah, if what the monk says is true, then I ask You that I kill this beast; and if what the soothsayer says is true, that I not kill it. Then he threw it at it and the beast was killed. The people said: Who killed it? They said: The boy. The people rushed to him in alarm and said: This boy has learned a knowledge that no one has learned. A blind man heard of him and came to him, and the blind man said to him: If you restore my sight to me, you shall have such-and-such. The boy said to him: I do not want this from you; but tell me, if your sight comes back to you, will you believe in the One who restored it to you? He said: Yes. So he supplicated to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and his sight came back, and the blind man believed. News of them reached the king, so he sent for them and they were brought, and he said: I will kill each one of you with a death by which I will not kill the other. He gave orders concerning the monk and the man who had been blind, and a saw was placed on the parting of the head of one of them, and he was killed; and he killed the other by another kind of death. Then he gave orders concerning the boy and said: Take him to such-and-such a mountain and throw him down from its top. When they took him to that mountain and reached the place they intended, they themselves began to fall and tumble down from the mountain, until none remained but the boy. Then the boy returned, and the king gave orders concerning him and said: Take him to the sea and throw him into it. They took him to the sea, and Allah drowned those who were with him and saved him. Then the boy said: You will never kill me until you crucify me, then shoot me, and when you shoot me, say: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of this boy,' or he said: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy.' So he gave orders concerning him and he was crucified; then he said: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy,' and the boy placed his hand on his temple and then died. The people said: This boy learned a knowledge that no one learned; we believe in the Lord of this boy. It was said to the king: Were you distressed that three people opposed you? Now all these people have opposed you. So he dug a trench, put firewood and fire in it, then gathered the people and said: Whoever returns to his religion, we will leave him; and whoever does not return, we will throw him into this fire. And he began throwing them into that trench." This is the saying of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "Destroyed were the companions of the trench, of the fire full of fuel" [Surah al-Buruj: 4-5], up to "the Almighty, the Praiseworthy" [Surah al-Buruj: 8]. And it is mentioned that the boy was brought out in the time of Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) with his hand placed on his temple, just as he had placed it when he was killed.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Suhayb (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Among those who came before you there was a king who had a sorcerer. When the sorcerer grew old, he said to the king: I have grown old, so send me a boy whom I may teach sorcery. So he handed a boy over to him, and he began teaching him sorcery. Between the king and the sorcerer there was a monk. The boy heard his words, and his manner and his words pleased him. So whenever he went to the sorcerer, he would sit with the monk, and when he came late to the sorcerer, he would beat him and say: What held you back? And when he returned to his family, he would sit with the monk, and when he went to his family, they would say: What holds you back? and they would beat him. He complained of this to the monk, and the monk said: When the sorcerer wants to beat you, say: My family held me back; and when your family want to beat you, say: The sorcerer held me back. He said: While he was in this state, one day he came upon a huge beast that had prevented the people from passing. He said: Today I will know whether the affair of the sorcerer is dearer to Allah or the affair of the monk. So he took a stone and said: In the name of Allah. O Allah, if the affair of the monk is dearer to You and better, then kill this beast. He threw it at it and killed it, and the people went on their way. This reached the monk, and he said: My son, you are better than me, and you will surely be put to trial; if you are put to trial, do not point them to me. The boy began to cure the blind and the leper and those with such ailments. The king had a companion who became blind. He heard of him and came to him with many gifts and said: Cure me, and all that is here is yours. He said: I do not cure anyone; only Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, cures. If you believe in Allah, He will cure you. So he believed in Him, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, cured him, and he recovered. Then the king seized the blind man and kept tormenting him until he pointed him to the boy. The king said to him: Do you have a lord other than me? He said: Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah. He kept tormenting him until he pointed him to the monk. He seized him with torment and said: Turn back from your religion. He refused, so he ordered a saw, and it was placed on the parting of his head and they split him apart. And he said to the blind man: Turn back from your religion. He refused, so he placed the saw on the parting of his head until his two halves fell to the ground. Then it was said to the boy: Turn back from your religion. He refused, so he sent him with a group of men to a mountain and said: Take him up such-and-such a mountain, and when you reach its summit, if he turns back from his religion (leave him), otherwise roll him down. He said: So they took him to the mountain, and when they reached its summit, the boy said: O Allah, suffice me against them however You will. The mountain shook with them and they all fell, and the boy came until he entered upon the king. He said: What happened to your companions? He said: Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sufficed me against them. So he sent him with a group of men in a boat and said: Take him to the sea, and when you reach the middle of the sea, if he turns back (well and good), otherwise drown him. They took him, and when they reached the deep sea, the boy said: O Allah, suffice me against them however You will. They all drowned, and the boy came. He said: What happened to your companions? He said: Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, sufficed me against them. Then he said to the king: You cannot kill me until you do what I command you; if you do it, you will kill me. He said: What is it? He said: Gather the people on a single plain, then take an arrow from your quiver and say: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy,' then shoot me. If you do that, you will kill me. So he did so; he set the arrow and said: 'In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy,' and the arrow struck him in his temple. The boy placed his hand on the place of the arrow, and the boy died. The people said: We believe in the Lord of the boy, three times. It was said to the king: Do you see what you used to fear? By Allah, it has befallen you: all the people have believed. So he had trenches dug at the entrances of the roads and said: Whoever turns back from his religion (leave him), otherwise push him into it."