Musnad Ahmad

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that once during the blessed era of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), there was a solar eclipse. This was the same day when the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) son, Sayyiduna Ibrahim, passed away, and people began to say among themselves that the sun was eclipsed because of Ibrahim’s death. Meanwhile, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) got ready and led the people in a prayer consisting of six bowings (ruku) and four prostrations (sajdah). In the first rak’ah, after saying the takbir, he recited a long recitation, then performed a bowing of similar length, then raised his head and recited again, this time a little shorter, then bowed for the duration of the standing, then raised his head and recited a third time, shorter than the previous recitation, then bowed for the duration of the standing, then raised his head and went into prostration, performing two prostrations. Then, after standing up, before going into prostration in the second rak’ah, he performed three bowings as mentioned, in which the first bowing was longer than the subsequent ones, but each bowing was as long as the standing. Then, during the prayer, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to move backward, so the rows of people also moved backward. After a while, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) moved forward and stood in his place, and the rows of people also moved forward. When the prayer was completed, the eclipse had ended and the sun had come out. On this occasion, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O people, the sun and the moon are two signs among the signs of Allah; they do not eclipse because of anyone’s death. When you see such a thing, then perform prayer until the eclipse is over, for during this prayer I have seen all those things which have been promised to you. Indeed, Hell was brought before me—this was the time when you saw me moving backward, because I feared that its flames might touch me, until I said: ‘O Lord, I am still among them, and yet such nearness to Hell?’ I saw in Hell a man with a stick, dragging his stick in Hell. He used to steal the belongings of the pilgrims with his stick; if someone noticed, he would say, ‘This item got stuck to my stick,’ and if someone was unaware, he would take it away. I also saw in it the woman with the cat, who had tied it up, neither feeding it herself nor letting it go so it could eat the insects of the earth, until it died in that state. Similarly, Paradise was also brought before me—this was the time when you saw me move forward and stand in my place. I stretched out my hand and intended to pluck some of its fruits so that you could see them, but then I thought it better not to do so.”