Mukhtasar Muslim

Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We were sitting with Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he said: Who among you has heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mention tribulations (fitan)? Some people said: Yes! We have heard. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Perhaps you think of those tribulations which befall a man regarding his family, wealth, and neighbor? They said: Yes. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The expiation for those tribulations is through prayer, fasting, and charity, but who among you has heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about those tribulations which will surge like the waves of the sea? Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The people fell silent, so I said: I have heard. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: You have heard, your father was very good. (This is a supplicatory phrase used by the Arabs.) Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), he used to say: Tribulations will be presented to the hearts one after another, just like the sticks of a mat are placed one after another. Then, whichever heart absorbs the tribulation, a black spot will be marked in it, and whichever heart rejects it, a white, luminous spot will be marked in it, until the hearts become of two kinds: one pure white like a polished stone, which no tribulation will harm as long as the heavens and the earth remain; the other black, mixed with whiteness, or like an upturned vessel, which will neither recognize good nor reject evil, except what is absorbed by its own desires. Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Then I narrated to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) the hadith that between you and that tribulation there is a closed door, but it is near that it will be broken. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: May your father not be (this is also a phrase commonly used by the Arabs to warn or alert someone), will it be broken? If it were opened, perhaps it could be closed again. I said: No, it will be broken. And I narrated to him the hadith that this door is a person who will be killed or will die. Then this hadith was not a mistake (not something made up from the heart). Abu Khalid said: I asked Sa'id bin Tariq, what is meant by "aswad murbad"? He said: Intense whiteness in blackness. I said: What is meant by "kal-kuz mujahkhiya"? He said: An overturned vessel.