14 Sacred Glimpses of the Prophet during Isra’

1. The Devil

As the Prophet was travelling mounted on the Buraq he saw a devil from the jinn who was trying to get near him holding a firebrand. Everywhere the Prophet turned he would see him. Jibril AS said to him: “Shall I teach you words which, if you say them, his firebrand will go out and he will fall dead?” The Prophet said yes. Jibril AS said:

أَعُوذُ بِوَجْهِ الله الْكَرِيمِ وَ كَلِمَاتِ الله التَّآمَّاةِ الَّتِى لَا يُجَاوِزْهُنَّ بَرٌّ وَلَا فَاجِرٌ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا يَنْزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَٓاءِ وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا وَ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا ذَرَأَ فِى الْأَرْضِ وَمَايَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا وَمِنْ فِتَنِ اللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ كُلِّ طَارِقٍ اِلَّا طَارِقًا يَطْرُقُ بِخَيْرٍ يَا رَحْمٰنُ

“I seek refuge in the noble countenance of Allah and in the complete words of Allah that no righteous or sinful person can surpass, from the evil of what descends from the sky and what ascends to it, and from the evil of what is sown in the earth and what comes out of it, and from the trials of the night and the day, and from the evil of every one who comes knocking except the one who comes knocking with goodness. O Most Merciful!”

At this the devil fell dead on his face and his firebrand went out.

2. The Mujahidun

They travelled until they reached a people who sowed in a day and reaped in a day. Every time they reaped, their harvest would be replenished as before. The Prophet said: “O Jibril! What is this?” He replied: “These are The Mujahidun, those who strive in the path of Allah the Exalted. Every good deed of theirs is multiplied for them seven hundred times, and whatever they spend returns multiplied.”

3. The lady who combed the hair of Firaun's daughter

The Prophet then noticed a fragrant wind and said: “O Jibril AS, what is this sweet scent?” He replied: This is the scent of the lady who combed the hair of Firawn’s daughter and that of her children. As she combed the hair of Firawn’s daughter the comb fell and she said: “Bismillah ta’isa Firawn – In the name of Allah, perish Firawn!” whereupon Firawn’s daughter said: “Do you have a Lord other than my father?” She said yes. Firawn’s daughter said: 

“Shall I tell my father?” She said yes. She told him and he summoned her and said: “Do you have a Lord other than me?” She replied: “Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allah.” This woman had two sons and a husband. Firawn summoned them and he began to entice the woman and her husband to give up their religion, but they refused. He said: “Then I shall have you killed.” She said: “Please bury us all together in a single grave if you kill us.” He replied: “Granted, and it is your right to ask us.” He then ordered that a huge cow made of copper be filled with boiling liquid and that she and her children be thrown into it. The children were taken and thrown in one after the other. The second and youngest was still an infant at the breast. When they took him he said: “Mother! fall and do not tarry for verily you are on the right.” Then she was thrown in with her children.

4. People who don't perform the prayers

Then the Prophet saw some people whose heads were being shattered, then every time they would return to their original state and be shattered again without delay. He said: “O Jibril AS, who are these people?” He replied: “These are the people whose heads were too heavy [on their pillows] to get up and fulfill the obligatory prayers.”

5. People who don't pay the Zakat

   
   

Then he saw a people who wore loincloths on their fronts and on their backs. They were roaming the way camels and sheep roam about. They were eating thistles and zaqqum – the fruit of a tree that grows in hell and whose fruit resembles the heads of devils – as well as white-hot coals and stones of Hell-Fire. He said: “Who are these, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “These are the ones who did not meet the obligation of paying alms from what they possessed, while Allah never withheld anything from them.”

6. People who engage in Adultery

   
   

Then he saw a people who had in front of them excellent meats disposed in pots and also putrid meat, and they would eat from the foul meat and not touch the good meat. He said: “What is this, O Jibril?” He replied: “These are the men from your Community who had an excellent, lawful wife at home and who would go and see an infamous woman and spend the night with her; and the women who would leave her excellent, lawful husband to go and see a infamous man and spend the night with him.”

7. People who harm others

   
   

Then he came to a plank in the middle of the road which not even a piece of cloth nor less than that could cross except it would be pierced. He said: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is what happens to those of your Community who sit in the middle of the road and harm passers-by” and he recited: {And do not lie in ambush by every path [of life] seeking to overawe or to hinder from the path of Allah those who believe, nor seek to make the path crooked} (7:86). 

8. People who eat Usury

   
   

The Prophet saw a man swimming in a river of blood and he was being struck in his mouth with rocks which he then swallowed. The Prophet asked: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is what happens to those who eat usury.”

9. People who didnt keep their promises

   
   

Then he saw a man who had gathered a stack of wood which he could not carry, yet he was adding more wood to it. He said: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is a man from your Community who gets people’s trusts when he cannot fulfill them, yet he insists on carrying them.”

10. The preachers of Fitnah

    
    

He then saw people whose tongues and lips were being sliced with metal knives. Every time they were sliced they would return to their original state to be sliced again without respite. He said: “Who are these, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “These are the public speakers of division in your Community: they say what they do not do.”

11. The slanders

Then he passed by people who had copper nails with which they scratched their own faces and chests. He asked: “Who are these, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “These are the ones who ate the flesh of people and tarnished their reputations.”

12. The Contrites

Then he saw a small hole with a huge bull coming out of it. The bull began to try entering the hole again and was unable to. The Prophet said: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is the one in your Community who tells an enormity, then he feels remorse to have spoken it but is unable to take it back.”

13. The People of Paradise

He then came to a valley in which he breathed a sweet, cool breeze fragrant with musk and he heard a voice. He said: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is the voice of Paradise saying: O my Lord, bring me what You have promised me! Too abundant are my rooms, my gold-laced garments, My silk, my brocades, my carpets, my pearls, my corals, My silver, my gold, my goblets, my bowls, my pitchers, My couches, my honey, my water, my milk, my wine! And the Lord says:

You shall have every single Muslim man and woman, Every believing man and woman, Everyone who has believed in Me and My Messengers And did excellent deeds Without associating a partner with Me Nor taking helpers without Me! Anyone who fears Me shall be safe, And whoever asks of Me, I shall give him, And whoever loans Me something, I shall repay him, And whoever relies upon Me, I shall suffice him! I am Allah beside Whom there is no God. I never fail in My promise. {Successful indeed are the believers.} (23:1) {So blessed be Allah, the best of Creators!} (23:14) “And Paradise answers: I accept.”

14. The People of Hellfire

Then the Prophet came to a valley in which he heard a detestable sound and smelled a foul wind. He said: “What is this, O Jibril AS?” He replied: “This is the sound of Hell-Fire saying: O Lord, give me what You promised me! Abundant are my chains, my yokes, my punishments, My fires, my thistles, my pus, my tortures! My depth is abysmal, my heat unbearable! Therefore give me what You promised me! And the Lord replies: You shall have every idolater and idolatress, Every disbelieving man and woman, every foul one, And every tyrant who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning! ”