Musnad Ahmad 21261

Translation

✧ Abu Hurayrah was bold in asking the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about things no one else would ask him. He said: O Messenger of Allah, what was the first thing you saw of the matter of prophethood? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat up straight and said: You have asked, Abu Hurayrah! I was in the desert, ten years and some months old, when suddenly there was speech above my head, and there was a man saying to another: Is it he? He said: Yes. They came toward me with faces I had never seen in any creature, spirits I had never found in any creature, and garments I had never seen on anyone. They approached me walking until each of them took hold of my upper arm, and I felt no touch from their taking. One of them said to his companion: Lay him down. So they laid me down without force or pressure. One of them said to his companion: Split open his chest. One of them leaned over my chest and split it, as I perceived, without blood or pain. He said to him: Remove rancor and envy. So he removed something like a leech, then threw it away and discarded it. He said to him: Instill kindness and mercy. Then there was something like what he had removed, resembling silver. Then he shook the big toe of my right foot and said: Go forth and be safe. So I returned with it, showing tenderness toward the young and mercy toward the old.

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