It is narrated from Kharashah bin al-Hurr that he said: I was sitting in a circle in the mosque of Madinah in which there was a handsome and dignified elderly man, and he was Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Salam (may Allah be pleased with him). He was telling the people very good things. When he got up and left, the people said: "Whoever would be pleased to look at a man from the people of Paradise, let him look at him." I said (to myself): By Allah! I will certainly follow him so that I may find out where his house is. So I followed him. He walked on until he was about to leave Madinah, and then he entered his house. I asked his permission to enter and he gave me permission, and asked: "O my nephew! What do you need?" I said: I heard the people saying such and such (words of praise) about you, and I liked the idea of being with you. He said: "Allah knows best who is of the people of Paradise, and I will tell you why they said that. (What actually happened is that) I was sleeping when suddenly a man came to me and said to me: 'Get up.' He took my hand and I went with him. On my left there were some paths, and I wanted to walk on them, but he said to me: 'Do not walk on these paths, for they are the paths of the people of the left (the people of Hell).' Then on my right there appeared a clear, straight path, and he said: 'Take this path.' Then I came to a mountain, and he said to me: 'Climb it.' Whenever I tried to climb, I fell down on my back, and I did that several times. Then he took me on until he came to a pillar whose top was in the sky and whose lower part was in the earth, and at its very top was a ring. He said to me: 'Climb on top of it.' I said: How can I climb it when its top is in the sky? Then he took me by the hand and tossed me upwards, and I was hanging from that ring. Then he struck that pillar and it fell, while I remained holding on to that ring, hanging, until morning. Then I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and related this dream to him, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'The paths you saw on your left are the paths of the people of the left (the people of Hell), and those on your right are the paths of the people of the right (the people of Paradise). The mountain is the abode of the martyrs, which you will not attain (at this time). The pillar is the pillar of Islam, and the ring is the firm handhold of Islam, so you will continue holding firmly to it until you die.'" This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim).