Allah, Glorified and Exalted, will say on the Day of Judgment: O son of Adam, I was ill, but you did not visit Me
Narrator in the source: Abu Hurayrah reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah say:
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah, Glorified and Exalted, will say on the Day of Judgment: 'O son of Adam, I was ill, but you did not visit Me.' He will respond: 'O Lord, how could I visit You and You are the Lord of the worlds?' Allah will say: 'Did you not know that My Servant, so-and-so, was ill but you did not visit him? Do you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him? O son of Adam, I asked you for food, but you did not feed Me.' He will respond: 'O Lord, how could I feed You and You are the Lord of the worlds?' He will say: 'Did you not know that My Servant, so-and-so, asked you for food, but you did not feed him? Do you not know that if you had fed him, you would have found (its reward) with Me? O son of Adam, I asked you for water, but you did not give Me any.' He will respond: 'O Lord, how could I give You (water) to drink and You are the Lord of the worlds?' And Allah will say: 'My Servant, so-and-so, asked you for a drink, but you did not give him one. Do you not know that if you had given him a drink, you would have found (its reward) with Me?'"- Grade in the source
- Authentic hadith
- Reported by
- Narrated by Muslim
- Source entry
- HadeethEnc · 5544 ↗
Original Arabic wording
عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قَال: قَالَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : "إنَّ اللهَ عز وجل يَقُولُ يَومَ القِيَامَةِ: يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، مَرِضْتُ فَلَمْ تَعُدنِي! قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ، كَيْفَ أعُودُكَ وَأنْتَ رَبُّ العَالَمِينَ؟!، قَالَ: أمَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّ عَبْدِي فُلاَناً مَرِضَ فَلَمْ تَعُدْهُ! أمَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّكَ لَوْ عُدْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَني عِنْدَهُ! يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، اسْتَطْعَمْتُكَ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمنِي! قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ، كَيْفَ أطْعِمُكَ وَأنْتَ رَبُّ العَالَمِينَ؟! قَالَ: أمَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّهُ اسْتَطْعَمَكَ عَبْدِي فُلانٌ فَلَمْ تُطْعِمْهُ! أمَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّكَ لَوْ أطْعَمْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي! يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، اسْتَسْقَيْتُكَ فَلَمْ تَسْقِنِي! قَالَ: يَا رَبِّ، كَيْفَ أسْقِيكَ وَأنْتَ رَبُّ العَالَمينَ؟! قَالَ: اسْتَسْقَاكَ عَبْدِي فُلاَنٌ فَلَمْ تَسْقِهِ! أمَا عَلِمْتَ أنَّكَ لَوْ سَقَيْتَهُ لَوَجَدْتَ ذَلِكَ عِنْدِي".Understand this hadith
Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Allah, Glorified and Exalted, will say on the Day of Judgment: 'O son of Adam, I was ill, but you did not visit Me.' He will respond: 'O Lord, how could I visit You and You are the Lord of the worlds?'" meaning: You are independent and not in need of my visit. Allah will say: “Did you not know that My Servant, so-and-so, was ill but you did not visit him? Do you not know that if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him?” There is nothing difficult to understand in this Hadīth in the part where Allah, the Almighty, says: "I was ill, but you did not visit Me", because it is impossible for Allah, the Almighty, to become ill, as illness is an attribute of deficiency and Allah, Glorified and Exalted, is free from deficiency. What is meant by "ill" here is that one of the righteous slaves of Allah was sick and the allies of Allah, Glorified and Exalted, were close to Him. For this reason, Allah said: "…if you had visited him, you would have found Me with him", and did not say: "you would have found (its reward) with Me", as He said in regard to the food and drink. This indicates how close the sick person is to Allah, the Almighty. Hence, the scholars said: "The sick person is worthy of having his supplication answered, whether he supplicates for someone or against someone." “O son of Adam, I asked you for food, but you did not feed Me.” It is known that Allah, the Almighty, does not seek food for Himself, as He says: {He who feeds and is not fed} [Sūrat al-An‘ām: 14]. Allah is independent and does not need anyone or anything or food or drink, but if one of Allah’s servants feels hungry and someone knows about it but does not feed him, Allah, the Almighty, says: “Do you not know that if you had fed him, you would have found (its reward) with Me?” This means that you would have found the reward of giving him food saved for you as a good deed, and a good deed can be multiplied ten times and up to seven-hundred times, or as many times as Allah wills. “O son of Adam, I asked you for water, but you did not it give Me any”, meaning: I asked you for a drink, but you did not give Me a drink. He responds: “… how could I give You (water) to drink and You are the Lord of the worlds?” meaning: You are not in need of food or drink. Then Allah says: “My Servant, so-and-so, asked you for a drink, but you did not give him one. Do you not know that if you had given him a drink, you would have found (its reward) with Me?” Providing someone with something to drink when they ask for a drink will win you a reward that will be saved for you as a good deed, and a good deed can be multiplied ten times and up to seven-hundred times or as many times as Allah wills.
References (original Arabic)
نزهة المتقين شرح رياض الصالحين لمجموعة من الباحثين, مؤسسة الرسالة, الطبعة الرابعة عشر, 1407ه. تطريز رياض الصالحين لفيصل بن عبد العزيز المبارك النجدي, تحقيق: عبد العزيز آل حمد, دار العاصمة , الطبعة: الأولى، 1423هـ. بهجة الناظرين شرح رياض الصالحين لسليم الهلالي, دار ابن الجوزي. شرح رياض الصالحين لابن عثيمين , دار الوطن للنشر، الرياض, الطبعة: 1426 هـ. صحيح مسلم, ترقيم محمد فؤاد عبد الباقي, دار إحياء التراث العربي, بيروت.
