Musnad Ahmad

Narrated from Hazrat Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In times past, three men were traveling when it began to rain. The three of them took shelter in a cave on a mountain. A rock fell from above and blocked the entrance of the cave. They said to one another, “By Allah, you will not be saved from here except by expressing the truth. Therefore, let each person present a truthful deed he has done, and pray to Allah.”

After agreeing on this, one man said, “Once I did a good deed. I had some laborers working for me, and I had hired each of them for an agreed wage. One day, a laborer came to me at midday. I hired him for the same wage as those who had been working since morning, and he worked for the rest of the day like the others. When it was time to pay the wages, one of the men said, ‘He only worked from midday, and you are giving him the same wage as me?’ I said to him, ‘Servant of Allah! I have not reduced your right in any way. This is my wealth; I can decide as I wish.’ At this, he became angry and left, even leaving his wage behind. I took his due and put it in a corner of my house. After some time, a calf passed by me, and I bought it with that money. The calf grew and became a whole herd. After some time, the man became very old and came to me to claim his wage. I said, ‘Take these cows and oxen.’ He said, ‘Don’t joke with me, give me my right.’ I replied, ‘I am not joking with you; this is your right. Take these cows and oxen.’ O Allah! If in Your knowledge I did this only out of fear of You, then remove this calamity from us.” By the blessing of his prayer, the rock moved a little.

The second man said, “O Allah! You know that there was a woman who was dearest to me. I tried to seduce her, but she refused unless I gave her one hundred dinars. I managed to collect one hundred dinars and gave them to her. She surrendered herself to me, and when I sat between her legs, she said, ‘Fear Allah, and do not break the seal except with right.’ I immediately stood up and left her the hundred dinars. O Allah! If my action was only out of fear of You, then remove this calamity from us.” The rock moved further, and they began to see outside.

The third man said, “O Allah! You know that my parents were very old. Every evening, I would milk my goats and give them the milk. One day, I was delayed (in returning from the forest), and when I arrived, they were asleep. My wife and children were crying from hunger, but my rule was that I would not give them milk until my parents had drunk. I was perplexed; it did not seem right to wake them, nor did it seem good to leave them hungry and weak until morning. So I stood waiting for them to wake up until morning. O Allah! If in Your knowledge I did this out of fear of You, then remove this calamity from us.” Immediately, the rock opened, the sky became visible to them, and they came out.