English Translation

Yunus and Surayj narrated to us, saying: Fulayh narrated to us, from Sa'id b. al-Harith, from Abu Salamah, who said: Abu Hurayrah used to narrate to us from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that he said: "There is in Friday an hour in which no Muslim coincides while in prayer, asking Allah for good, except that He grants it to him" - and Abu Hurayrah indicated its brevity with his hand. He said: When Abu Hurayrah died, I said, "By Allah, if only I went to Abu Sa'id and asked him about this hour, in case he has some knowledge of it." So I went to him and found him straightening palm branch stalks. I said, "O Abu Sa'id, what are these stalks that I see you straightening?" He said, "These are stalks in which Allah has placed a blessing for us; the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, loved them and used to lean on them as a cane. So we would straighten them and bring them to him. He saw spittle in the direction of the qiblah of the mosque, while he had one of these stalks in his hand, so he scraped it off and said, 'When one of you is in his prayer, let him not spit in front of him, for his Lord is in front of him; let him spit to his left or beneath his foot. And if' - Surayj said 'he finds no place to spit' - 'then in his garment or his sandal.'" He said: Then the sky grew stormy that night, and when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, went out for the last night prayer, lightning flashed, and he saw Qatadah b. al-Nu'man, and said, "What is this night journey, O Qatadah?" He said, "I knew, O Messenger of Allah, that those who attend the prayer are few, so I wished to attend it." He said, "When you pray, stay put until I pass by you." When he finished, he gave him the palm stalk and said, "Take this; it will light your way for ten paces in front of you and ten behind you. And when you enter the house and you perceive a black shape in a corner of the house, strike it before it speaks, for it is a devil." He said: So he did that, and that is why we love these stalks. He said: I said, "O Abu Sa'id, Abu Hurayrah told us about the hour that is on Friday - do you have any knowledge of it?" He said, "I asked the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, about it, and he said, 'I was indeed made to know it, then I was made to forget it, just as I was made to forget the Night of Decree.'" He said: Then I left him and went in to Abdullah b. Salam.