English translation
2155. 'Abdul-Wāhid bin Sulaim narrated: "I arrived in Makkah and met 'Aṭā' bin Abī Rabāh. I said to him: 'O Abū Muḥammad! The people of Al-Baṣrah speak about Al-Qadar.' He said: 'O my son! Do you recite the Qur'an?' I said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Then recite Az-Zukhruf to me.'" He said: "So I recited: Ḥa Mīm. By the manifest Book. Verily, We have made it a Qur'an in Arabic that you may be able to understand. And verily, it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, indeed exalted, full of wisdom.[1] Then he said: 'Do you know what the Mother of the Book is?' I said: 'Allāh and His Messenger know better.' He said: 'It is a book that Allāh wrote before He created the Heavens, and before He created the earth. In it, it is (written): Fir'awn is among the inhabitants of the Fire, and in it is: Perish the two hands of Abū Lahab, and perish he![2] 'Aṭā' said: 'I met Al-Walid the son of 'Ubādah bin Aṣ-Ṣāmit the Companion of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and asked him: "What was your father's admonition when he died?" He said: "He called me and said: 'O my son! Have Taqwā of Allāh, and know that you will never have Taqwā of Allāh until you believe in Allāh, and you believe in Al-Qadar – all of it – its good and its bad. If you die upon other than this you shall enter the Fire. Indeed I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ saying: "Verily the first of what Allāh created was the Pen. So He said: 'Write.' It said: 'What shall I write?' He said: 'Write Al-Qadar, what it is, and what shall be, until the end.'" (Ṣaḥīḥ) [Abū 'Eisā said:] This Hadīth is Gharīb [from this route].[1]