Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Abdur Rahman bin Jubair bin Nufair narrates from his father, who says: One day we were sitting with Sayyiduna Miqdad bin Aswad (may Allah be pleased with him), when a man passed by. Upon seeing Sayyiduna Miqdad, he said: Glad tidings to those two eyes which saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). We wish that we had seen what you saw, and reached wherever you were present (i.e., that we had kept the company of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him). Sayyiduna Miqdad became angry. I was greatly surprised, as the man had only said something good and virtuous (so why was he getting angry)? Then he turned towards that man and said: What is it that incites a person to wish for a situation from which Allah, the Exalted, has kept him absent, for he does not know what his state would have been had he been present at that time? (Just think) There were also people present with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) whom Allah, the Exalted, threw into Hell on their noses; they neither accepted his call nor affirmed his truthfulness. Do you not give thanks to Allah, the Exalted, for this blessing, that when He created you, you recognized your Lord, affirmed the teachings of the Prophet, and the hardships of others sufficed for you? (i.e., you were born into a Muslim household, and those before you endured trials and tribulations to preserve and establish the religion for you). When Allah, the Exalted, sent His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), the circumstances for the people of truth were so severe that among the prophets who came during the past tribulations and periods of ignorance, there is no example like it. The opponents thought that idol worship was the best religion. You (peace and blessings be upon him) brought the Furqan Majeed, which distinguished between truth and falsehood, and created such a separation between father and child that a man began to consider his father, his son, or his brother as a disbeliever. Allah, the Exalted, unlocked the locks upon their hearts. He knew that if he died in that state, he would enter Hell, and how could he find peace knowing that his beloved was in Hell? And this is the very thing about which Allah, the Exalted, said: "And they pray: Our Lord! Grant us from our wives and our offspring the comfort of our eyes." (Surah Al-Furqan: 74)