The night of the Jinn with ‘Abdullāh Ibn Mas’ūd

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Ibn Mas’ūd narrated :

The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) performed ‘Ishā, then he turned and asked for me. He took my hand and we set out until I came to the wide valley of Makkah. He drew a line for me and said to me: ‘Stay within this line, and do not cross it, for indeed there shall come some men to you, but do not speak to them for they shall not speak to you, and if you cross (the line), you will perish. ‘ So I stayed within it. So the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) went on a little, as far as one could throw a stone or a little further.

While I was sitting within the line, some men/shapes of figures [i.e. jinn] came to me that appeared as if they were black people (i.e. dark people, like from North Africa or India), both their hair and bodies. They were not wearing any clothes but I could not see their private parts, and they were tall and they had little flesh (i.e. slim).

Then they returned towards Allāh’s Messenger (ﷺ) and began towering on top of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ). The Prophet of Allāh (ﷺ) began to recite the Qur’ān to them. And they started coming to me and surrounding me, and getting in my way. I was extremely scared of them, so I sat down – or words to that effect.

When dawn entered, they started to leave. Then the Messenger of Allāh came and entered into the line with me, looking heavy and in pain, or almost like he was in pain from their towering over him. He (ﷺ) said:’I find myself tired’ – or words to that effect. So the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) placed his head on my lap to sleep. And the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) would snore when he slept.

While I was sitting there, after a while, these men came, wearing long white garments, and Allāh knows best how handsome they were. The Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) had gone to sleep. They came towards me – I was more afraid than I was the first time – a group of them sat at the head of the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) and a group at his feet. So some of them said to each other: This servant has been given good, his eyes are asleep, but his heart is awake.

Some of them said to one another: Come, let us give him a parable. Some of them said to one another: You coin for him a parable, and we will interpret it, or we will coin for him a parable and you will interpret it.

So some of them said to each other: His parable is that of a leader who built a fortified fort, then he placed a table-spread in it and he invites people to eat and drink. So whoever answers his invitation, he eats from his food and drinks from his drink. And whoever does not come and eat his food, or who does not answer his invitation, he will punish him with a severe punishment.

The others said: As for the leader, he is the Lord of the worlds, and as for the fort, it is Islām, and the food is Paradise, and he (the prophet) is the one who invites, so whoever follows him will be in Paradise. And whoever does not follow him will be punished.

Then the Messenger of Allāh (ﷺ) woke up and said: ‘What did you see, Oh Ibn Umm ‘Abd?’ ‘Abdullāh said: I saw such-and-such. The Prophet (ﷺ) said: ‘Nothing of what they said was hidden from me.’ The Prophet of Allāh (ﷺ) said:’ They are a group of the angels.’ Or he said:’ They are the angels.’

(Musnad Imām Ahmad 3788 – declared Sahīh by Ahmad Shākir. Al-Tirmidhī 2861 – declared Hasan Sahīh by Al-Albānī)

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