It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: On the night of Isra, I perceived a very pure fragrance. I asked: O Jibreel! What is this pure fragrance? He said: This is the fragrance of the hairdresser, the daughter of Pharaoh, and her children. I asked: What is her story? He said: One day she was combing the hair of one of Pharaoh’s daughters, when suddenly the comb fell from her hand and she said: Bismillah (In the name of Allah). Pharaoh’s daughter asked: By Bismillah, do you mean my father? She replied: No, rather by it I mean my Lord and your Lord, Allah. In another narration: I mean my Lord and your Lord, the One who is in the heavens. She said: Shall I inform my father Pharaoh about this? She replied: Yes, certainly. So she informed him. He called his Muslim daughter and said: O so-and-so! Do you have any Lord besides me? She replied: Yes, rather He is my Lord and yours, and He is Allah. In another narration: My Lord and your Lord is the One who is in the heavens. So Pharaoh had a copper cow made, it was heated, and then he ordered that she and her children be thrown into that cow. The hairdresser said: I have one request from you. He asked: What is your request? She said: I wish that you gather my bones and the bones of my children in one cloth and...

Narrated from Sayyiduna Suhaib (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: There was a king among those before you, and he had a magician. When the magician grew old, he said to the king: I have grown old and my time of death has come, so give me a servant so that I may teach him the knowledge of magic. So the king gave him a boy, and he began to teach him magic. Between the magician and the king, there was a priest. One day, the boy went to the priest and listened to his words. He liked his way and speech. When he was late because of the priest and then reached the magician, the magician would beat him and say: What kept you? Similarly, when he reached his family, they would also beat him and say: What kept you? When he complained about this to the priest, the priest said: When the magician wants to punish you, say that my family kept me, and when your family wants to punish you, say that the magician kept me. So this routine continued.

One day, he passed by a very large animal that had blocked the people, and they could not pass by it. The boy said: Today I will find out whether the matter of the priest is more beloved to Allah or the matter of the magician. So he took a stone and said: O Allah! If the matter of the priest is more beloved and preferred by You than that of the magician, then kill this animal with this stone so that the people may pass. Then he threw the stone, and indeed it killed the animal, and the people passed. Then when the boy informed the priest of this incident, he said: O my dear son! You are better than me, and soon you will be tested. But if you are tested, do not tell anyone about me.

So the boy began to cure those born blind and other diseases, and they began to be healed. One day, it happened that a companion of the king became blind. When he heard about the boy, he brought many gifts and said: Cure me, and all this will be yours. The boy said: I do not cure anyone; rather, Allah cures. If you believe in Allah, I will pray to Him, and He will cure you. So the man believed, and the boy prayed to Allah for him, and He cured him.

Then that companion came to the king and sat as before. The king asked him: O so-and-so! Who restored your sight? He said: My Lord did. The king said: I did? He said: No, rather my Lord and your Lord, Allah, did. The king said: Do you have a Lord besides me? He said: Yes. So the king began to punish him until he told him about the boy. So the king sent for the boy and said: O my son! Your magic has reached the point that you cure the blind, the deaf, and such diseases. He said: I have not cured anyone; only Allah cures. The king said: Meaning me? The boy said: No. The king said: Do you have a Lord besides me? He said: Yes, He is my Lord and yours, and He is Allah. The king began to punish him until the boy told him about the priest.

So the priest was brought. The king said to him: Renounce your religion. But he refused. So a saw was placed in the middle of his head and was run until his body fell into two pieces. Then the king said to the former blind man: Renounce your religion. But he also refused. So the saw was placed in the middle of his head and was run, and his body fell into two pieces on the ground. Then the king said to the boy: Renounce your religion. But he refused. So the king sent him with some people to a specific mountain and ordered: When you reach the top, ask him to renounce his religion. If he does, fine; otherwise, throw him down. So they took him, and when they began to climb the mountain, the boy prayed: O Allah! Save me from them by whatever means You wish. So the mountain shook, and they all fell (and died). The boy, searching, returned to the king.

He asked: What happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them. Then the king sent him with a group in a large boat and said: When you go into the sea, ask him to renounce his religion. If he does, fine; otherwise, drown him. So when they went into the sea, the boy said: O Allah! Save me from them by whatever means You wish. So they all drowned, and the boy, searching, returned to the king.

He asked: What happened to your companions? He said: Allah has saved me from them. Then the boy said to the king: You cannot kill me until you do what I command. If you do what I command, then you will be able to kill me; otherwise, you will not be able to kill me. The king said: What is that command? He said: Gather the people in a field, then crucify me on a trunk, then take an arrow from my quiver and say: "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy." If you do this, you will be able to kill me. So the king did so, placed the arrow on the bow, and said: "In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy." The arrow struck the boy's temple, and he placed his hand on the spot and died.

When the people saw this, they said: We believe in the Lord of the boy. Someone said to the king: Do you realize that what you feared has happened to you? By Allah, you have fallen into it; all the people have become believers. So the king ordered that trenches be dug at the entrances of the streets and fires be lit in them. Then he said: Whoever renounces this religion, leave him; otherwise, throw him into the fire. So they rushed and crowded into the fire, until a woman came with her infant child, and it seemed she was about to turn back from entering the fire. But the child said: O my mother! Be patient, for you are upon the truth.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Only three children have spoken in the cradle: (1) ‘Isa ibn Maryam, (2) Among the Children of Israel there was a devout worshipper named Jurayj. He built a monastery and worshipped in it. One day, the Children of Israel mentioned Jurayj’s worship, but one of their adulterous women said: If you wish, I can put him to trial? They said: We wish that. So the woman came, tried to seduce him, but when he paid her no attention, she gave herself to a shepherd who used to graze his sheep near Jurayj’s monastery. She became pregnant. When she gave birth to a child and people asked her who the father was, the adulterous woman said: It is Jurayj’s (i.e., Jurayj committed adultery with this woman). So the people came to Jurayj, brought him down, abused him, beat him, and demolished his monastery. He asked: What has happened to you? They said: You committed adultery with such-and-such adulterous woman and now she has given birth to a child. Jurayj said: Where is the child? They said: Here he is. So Jurayj stood up, prayed, and supplicated. Then he came to the child, poked him with his finger, and said: By Allah! O child! Who is your father? The child said: I am the son of the shepherd. Hearing this, the people turned to Jurayj, began kissing him, and said: We will build your monastery from gold. But he said: I have no need for gold; just build it from clay as it was before. (3) A woman was nursing a child in her lap when a handsome and beautiful rider passed by. The woman said: O Allah! Make my son like him. The child left his mother’s breast, turned towards the rider, and said: O Allah! Do not make me like him. Then he began to suckle again. Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It is as if I am seeing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he described the child’s action and put his finger in his mouth and sucked it. Meanwhile, a slave girl was being led past that woman, and she was being beaten. The woman said: O Allah! Do not make my son like her. The child left the breast and turned towards the slave girl and said: O Allah! Make me like her. When they repeated the matter, the woman said to her son: A handsome and beautiful rider passed by and I said: O Allah! Make my son like him, but you said: O Allah! Do not make me like him. Then when this slave girl was led past and I said: O Allah! Do not make my son like her, you said: O Allah! Make me like her. This time the child said: O my mother! That handsome and beautiful rider was one of the tyrants, and this slave girl—people were saying she committed adultery, but she did not; people were saying she stole, but she did not; and she was saying: Allah is sufficient for me.

(Second chain) The Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: Only three children have spoken in the cradle: (1) Jesus son of Mary, peace be upon him, (2) a child from the time of Jurayj, and (3) another child, ... ... , then the rest of the hadith was mentioned, with some details as follows: He, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, said: Jurayj was a devout worshipper among the Children of Israel, and his mother was also alive. One day he was praying, while on the other side, his mother longed for her son and called out: O Jurayj! He said within his prayer: O my Lord! Is prayer better now or should I go to my mother? Then he continued his prayer. The mother called out again, and he did the same. The mother called out a third time, and he did the same and continued his prayer. This was very hard on the mother, so she said: O Allah! Let Jurayj be tested by immoral women. Then he went up to his monastery, and a woman from the Children of Israel who was immoral, ... ... . Then a narration similar to the above-mentioned hadith was mentioned.

(Second chain) The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: There was a man among the Children of Israel who was a merchant; sometimes his wealth would decrease and sometimes increase. Eventually, he said: There is no good in this trade; I will seek some other trade better than this. So he built a church and adopted monasticism, sitting in it. He was called Jurayj, … … .

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever among you has the ability to be like the man with a measure of rice, then he should be like him. The Companions asked: O Messenger of Allah! What is the story of the man with a measure of rice? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Three men set out on a journey, the sky became cloudy, so they entered a cave, but then a rock fell from the top of the mountain and blocked the mouth of the cave. They tried to remove it, but it was beyond their ability. Then some of them said to others: You have fallen into a great calamity, now each man should call upon Allah with his best deed, perhaps Allah will deliver us from this calamity. So one of them said: O Allah! You know that my parents had become very old, I used to milk for them and give them to drink. One day when I brought their milk, they had fallen asleep. I spent the night standing, waiting for them, while the milk was in my hand. I disliked to give it to anyone before them or to wake them up, and my children were crying around me because of hunger. O Allah! If You know that I did this out of fear of You, then remove this rock from us. As soon as he said this, the rock moved a little.

The second person said: O Allah! You know that my uncle had a daughter who was the dearest of people to me. I tried to persuade her to give herself to me, but she said: No, by Allah! Not for less than one hundred dinars. So when I collected this amount and gave it to her, and sat with her as a husband sits with his wife, she said: Fear Allah and do not break the seal except by right. Upon hearing this, I stood up from her. O Allah! If You know that I did this out of fear of You, then remove this rock from us. So the rock moved a little more and they could see the sky.

Now the third person said: O Allah! Surely You know that I hired a laborer for a measure of rice. When evening came, I offered him his due, but for some reason he refused to take his wages and left me. I felt uneasy about this and invested his capital and improved it, until I bought cows and a herdsman with it. After some time, when he met me, he said: Fear Allah and give me my wages, and do not wrong me. I said: Go to those cows and the herdsman and take them. He said: Fear Allah and do not mock me. I said: Indeed, I am not mocking you. So he went and drove them away. O Allah! If You know that I did this seeking Your pleasure, then remove this rock from us. So the rock rolled away and they came out and went on their way.

Sayyiduna Nu’man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the people of the cave and said: Three men took refuge in a cave, and a part of the mountain fell over the entrance of the cave and blocked its way. One of them said: Remember, which one of you has done a righteous deed? Perhaps Allah, due to His mercy, will have mercy on us. One man said: I once did a good deed, (the details are as follows:) Some laborers used to work for me. My workers came to me, and I gave each one his fixed wage. One day, a man came to me at midday. I put him to work for wages, but due to the half day, I agreed to give him half the wage of the other workers. However, in that half day, he did as much work as the others did in the whole day, so I considered it my responsibility to give him the full wage like his companions, because he worked with full effort. One of them objected, saying: Are you giving him the same wage as me, even though he worked only half a day? I said: O servant of Allah! I have not reduced anything from what was agreed upon with you. This is my wealth; I can decide about it as I wish. (At my words) he became angry and left, abandoning his wage. I put his due in a corner of my house. Then one day, a cow passed by me. I bought a calf that had been weaned from its mother with his wage, (its offspring increased and) the number of cows grew. One day, that same laborer passed by me; he had become old and weak, so I did not recognize him. He said: My due is with you. When he reminded me, I understood. I said: I was looking for you. Presenting (all the cows) to him, I said: This is your due. He said: O servant of Allah! Do not mock me. If you cannot show kindness to me, at least give me my due. I said: By Allah! I am not mocking you. This is your right; nothing in it is mine. So I gave him all that wealth. O Allah! If I did this good deed for Your sake, then create an opening for us through it. (Because of this supplication) the rock moved (or split) so much that they could see the outside environment.

The second said: I too once did a good deed. (The details are as follows:) I had wealth in excess of my needs. People were afflicted with hardship. A woman came to me to ask for some wealth. I said: By Allah! Its only price is your private part. She refused (to do so) and left. Then she returned and pleaded with me by Allah, but I persisted in refusing and said: No, by Allah! Its only price is your private part. She refused my demand and left. She told her husband about this, and he said: Give yourself to him (i.e., let him commit adultery) and (by taking something) fulfill the needs of your children. She came and swore by Allah to me, but I (as before) refused and said: First you must sell yourself (i.e., lose your honor). When she saw this situation, she surrendered herself to me. When I undressed her and intended to commit the immoral act, she began to tremble beneath me. I said to her: What has happened to you? She said: I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I said to her: You fear Him despite your poverty, and I do not fear Him even in my prosperity? So I left her, and for the crime of undressing her, I gave her what was due upon me. O Allah! If I did this good deed for Your sake, then remove this (rock) today. (Because of this supplication) it moved further, until they began to recognize each other.

The third said: I too did a good deed. (The details are as follows:) My parents were old, and I had goats. I would feed my parents and give them milk to drink, and then return to my goats. One day, rain prevented me from returning (on time), and evening fell there. When I reached home, I took a vessel, milked the goats, and brought it to my parents, but they had fallen asleep before I arrived. On one hand, it was hard for me to wake them, and on the other, I was worried about leaving the goats unprotected. Nevertheless, I sat holding the vessel, waiting for them, until they woke up in the morning, and I gave them milk. O Allah! If I did this good deed for Your sake, then remove (this rock). Sayyiduna Nu’man says: It is as if I am still hearing these words from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Allah removed the (rock from the mouth of the cave), and they came out.

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both, he says: I heard a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, if I heard it from him once, or twice, until he mentioned seven times, rather I have heard it even more times than that. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Kifl was from the Children of Israel, he did not refrain from any sin. One day a woman came to him, he gave her sixty dinars on the condition that he would commit adultery with her. So when he sat with her like a husband, she began to tremble and started to weep. He said: Why are you crying, did I force you? She said: No, in fact, the matter is that I have never committed this crime before, but today need has compelled me to do so. He said: So now you are committing this crime, while before you never did such a thing. Then he moved away from her and said: Go, and these dinars are also yours. Then he said: By Allah! Now Kifl will never disobey Allah Almighty again. Then he died that very night. In the morning, it was written on his door that indeed Allah Almighty has forgiven Kifl.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: There was a man among those before you who was present in his kingdom. He thought and then realized that all of this would be cut off from him, and this kingdom had prevented him from worshipping his Lord. Then he withdrew (i.e., secluded himself in his house), and one night he left his palace and kept walking without hindrance until, by morning, he reached another’s kingdom. Then he came to the seashore, where he made bricks for wages, thus earning his livelihood, and would give charity from the surplus wealth. His situation remained like this until the king came to know of his matter, his worship, and his virtue. The king sent him a message to come to him, but he refused to come. The king sent another message, but he refused again and said: What concern does he have with me? Then one day the king mounted (his horse) and came to him, but when he saw the king, he began to run away. When the king saw him doing this, he spurred his mount, but could not catch him. Finally, the king said: O servant of Allah! There will be no harm to you from me. So he stopped until the king caught up with him and said: May Allah have mercy on you, who are you? He said: I am so-and-so, son of so-and-so, and the owner of such-and-such kingdom. I reflected on my situation and realized that all that is around me is going to perish, but it had kept me busy from worshipping my Lord, so I left that thing and came here, and now I am worshipping my Lord. Hearing this, the king said: In this matter, you are not more in need than I am. Then that man dismounted from his mount and left it, and the king also dismounted from his mount and left it, and began to follow that man. Thus, both of them worshipped Allah Almighty, and both of them prayed to Allah Almighty to cause them to die together, and then they both passed away. Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: If I were in the Rumaila field of Egypt, I would show you the graves of both of them by recognizing the signs which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) described to us.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that a man asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about Saba: was it a man, a woman, or the name of a land? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) replied: He was a man, he had ten children, among them six settled in Yemen and four in Syria. The Yemenis are: Madhhij, Kindah, Azd, Ash'ari, Anmar, and Himyar; all of these were Arabs. And the Syrians are: Lakhm, Juzam, Amilah, and Ghassan.