English translation
3813. Narrated Qais bin 'Ubād: While I was sitting in the mosque of Al-Madīna, there entered a man ('Abdullāh bin Salām) with signs of solemnity over his face. The people said, "He is one of the people of Paradise." He offered two light Rak'a and then left. I followed him and said, "When you entered the mosque, the people said, 'He is one of the people of Paradise.'" He said, "By Allāh, one ought not say what he does not know; and I will tell you why. In the lifetime of the Prophet ﷺ I had a dream which I narrated to him. I saw as if I were in a garden." He then described its vastness and greenery. He added: "In its centre there was an iron pillar whose lower end was fixed in the earth and the upper end was in the sky, and at its upper end there was a (ring-shaped) hand-hold. I was told to climb it. I said, 'I can't.' Then a servant came to me and lifted my clothes from behind and I climbed till I reached the top (of the pillar). Then I got hold of the hand-hold, and I was told to hold it tightly, then I woke up and (the effect of) the hand-hold was in my hand. I narrated all that to the Prophet ﷺ who said, 'The garden is Islām, and the hand-hold is the Most Truthworthy Hand-hold. So you will remain as a Muslim till you die.'" (The narrator added): "The man was 'Abdullāh bin Salām."