Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on one of his military expeditions. One night I woke up and did not find the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in his place. His (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions were (fast asleep) as if there were rocks on their heads, and the camels had laid their necks (on the ground). Suddenly I saw a figure coming towards me and I went towards it, and it was Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him). I asked: Where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Behind me. Then I saw another figure coming towards me and I went towards it, and it was Abu Musa al-Ash'ari (may Allah be pleased with him). (The narrator said:) Then Humayd bin Hilal narrated to me through Abu Burdah bin Abi Musa from Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: I heard behind Abu Musa a sound like the rumbling of a millstone. I asked: Where is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He said: Behind me; he is coming. And there was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I said: O Messenger of Allah, when a prophet is in enemy land, he has guards with him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One came to me from my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, and gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise, or being granted intercession, and I chose intercession." Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May my father and mother be ransomed for you, you know my kinship and my standing, so make me one of them too. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are one of them." Then Awf and Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: O Messenger of Allah, you know that we left our families, preferring Allah and His Messenger, so make us one of them too. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is for every Muslim; you two are also among them." Then we reached the people while they were calling out, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sit down." They sat down as if no one had been standing at all. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One came to me from my Lord and gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise, or being granted intercession, and I chose intercession." The people said: O Messenger of Allah, make us one of them too. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Be silent." They fell silent as if no one had said anything at all. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "My intercession is for the one who dies without associating anything with Allah."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب العين / 15224
Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik al-Ashja'i (may Allah be pleased with him) said: One night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) halted with us (in the last part of the night), and each of us made the foreleg of his mount his bedding. At some point in the night I woke up and saw the she-camel of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with no one in front of it. I set out looking for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and saw Mu'adh bin Jabal and Abdullah bin Qays (may Allah be pleased with them both) standing. I asked: Where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? They both said: We do not know, except that we heard a sound like that of a millstone from the upper part of the valley. Only a short while passed before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us and said: "One came to me from my Lord and gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise, or being granted intercession, and I chose intercession." We said: O Messenger of Allah, we implore you by Allah and by our companionship to make us among the people of intercession. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You are among the people of my intercession." Then we all set off, racing one another towards the people, and saw that the people were alarmed, having found their Prophet missing. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "One came to me from my Lord and gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise, and intercession, and I chose intercession." They said: O Messenger of Allah, we implore you by Allah and by our companionship to make us among the people of your intercession. When they began to insist, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I call you to witness that my intercession is for whoever of my Ummah dies without associating anything with Allah."
Hadith Referenceالمعجم الكبير للطبراني / باب العين / 15225