Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

It is narrated from Hazrat Abdullah bin Isa that he said: Among the people before you, there was a man who worshipped Allah on land for forty years. Then he prayed, "O Lord! I desire to worship You in the sea." So some people came, and he asked them to let him board (their boat); they allowed him to board. Then, as long as Allah willed, the boat continued to move with them. Then the boat stopped. There was a tree at the edge of the water. The narrator says that the man said (to the boatmen), "Let me off near that tree." The narrator says: The people said, "How will you live in this place?" He said, "I asked you to take me for a wage, so let me off wherever my heart desires." So they let him off there, and the boat continued on with the rest of the people. Then an angel wanted to ascend to the sky, and he recited the words by which he would ascend to the sky, but he could not ascend. He realized that this was the result of some mistake of his. So he came to the one by the tree and said to him that he should intercede for him with his Lord. The narrator says: That man prayed and supplicated for the angel. The narrator says: That worshipper also prayed to Allah that this angel should seize his soul so that the pain from the Angel of Death would be lessened. So when the time of that man's death came, the angel appeared and said, "I have requested my Lord that He accept my intercession for you just as He accepted your intercession for me, and that I should be the one to seize your soul. So, as you wish, I will seize your soul." The narrator says: Then that worshipper prostrated, a tear came from his eye, and he died.