Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Awf bin Malik Ashja'i narrates that one night the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stayed with us, so each of us placed a pillow on the front leg of his mount. I woke up during a part of the night and saw that there was no one in front of the camel of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). So I set out to search for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and found Mu'adh bin Jabal and Abdullah bin Qais standing. I asked, "Where is the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)?" They replied, "We have no knowledge except that we heard a sound from the upper side of the valley, and it sounded like the noise of a water mill." We had only walked a little when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) arrived and said, "Tonight, a messenger from my Lord came to me, and he gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise and intercession. I chose intercession." We said, "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we beseech you by Allah and by your companionship to include us among your people of intercession." He said, "You are among the partners of my intercession." He says, "We quickly went to the people, and they were anxious and searching for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said, 'Tonight, a messenger from my Lord came to me, and he gave me the choice between half of my Ummah entering Paradise and my intercession. I chose intercession.' The people said, 'O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), we beseech you by Allah and by your companionship to include us among your people of intercession.' He said, 'I make all those present witnesses that my intercession will be for every member of my Ummah who dies without associating anything with Allah.'"