Arabic (Original)
حَدَّثَنَا بَهْزٌ حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ يَعْنِي ابْنَ الْمُغِيرَةِ عَنْ ثَابِتٍ حَدَّثَنَا رَجُلٌ مِنْ الشَّامِ وَكَانَ يَتْبَعُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ وَيَسْمَعُ قَالَ كُنْتُ مَعَهُ فَلَقِيَ نَوْفًا فَقَالَ نَوْفٌ ذُكِرَ لَنَا أَنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى قَالَ لِمَلَائِكَتِهِ ادْعُوا لِي عِبَادِي قَالُوا يَا رَبِّ كَيْفَ وَالسَّمَوَاتُ السَّبْعُ دُونَهُمْ وَالْعَرْشُ فَوْقَ ذَلِكَ قَالَ إِنَّهُمْ إِذَا قَالُوا لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ اسْتَجَابُوا قَالَ يَقُولُ لَهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو صَلَّيْنَا مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ صَلَاةَ الْمَغْرِبِ أَوْ غَيْرَهَا قَالَ فَجَلَسَ قَوْمٌ أَنَا فِيهِمْ يَنْتَظِرُونَ الصَّلَاةَ الْأُخْرَى قَالَ فَأَقْبَلَ إِلَيْنَا يُسْرِعُ الْمَشْيَ كَأَنِّي أَنْظُرُ إِلَى رَفْعِهِ إِزَارَهُ لِيَكُونَ أَحَثَّ لَهُ فِي الْمَشْيِ فَانْتَهَى إِلَيْنَا فَقَالَ أَلَا أَبْشِرُوا هَذَاكَ رَبُّكُمْ أَمَرَ بِبَابِ السَّمَاءِ الْوُسْطَى أَوْ قَالَ بِبَابِ السَّمَاءِ فَفُتِحَ فَفَاخَرَ بِكُمْ الْمَلَائِكَةَ قَالَ انْظُرُوا إِلَى عِبَادِي أَدَّوْا حَقًّا مِنْ حَقِّي ثُمَّ هُمْ يَنْتَظِرُونَ أَدَاءَ حَقٍّ آخَرَ يُؤَدُّونَهُ.
English Translation
Bahz narrated to us: Sulayman - meaning Ibn al-Mughirah - narrated from Thabit: A man from al-Sham narrated to us, and he used to follow Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As and listen to him. He said: I was with him when he met Nawf. Nawf said: "It has been mentioned to us that Allah the Exalted said to His angels: 'Summon My servants.' They said: 'O Lord, how can we when the seven heavens are between us and them, and the Throne is above all that?' He said: 'When they say La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah), they have responded.'" Abdullah ibn Amr said to him: "We prayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) the Maghrib prayer or some other prayer. A group of people, including myself, sat waiting for the next prayer. He came toward us walking quickly - I could see that he had raised his garment to walk faster. He reached us and said: 'Rejoice! This is your Lord who has commanded the gate of the middle heaven - or he said: the gate of heaven - to be opened. He boasts about you to the angels, saying: Look at My servants - they have fulfilled a right from My rights, and now they await fulfilling another right.'"