We were at a funeral in Baqi al-Gharqad when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us. He sat down and we sat around him. He had a small stick with him and he began scratching the ground with it. Then he raised his head and said, "There is not one soul among you that has been born but its place in Paradise or in the Fire has already been written, and it has already been written as wretched or as blessed."The people said, "Messenger of Allah, then should we not simply rely on what has been written for us and abandon action? Whoever is among the people of blessedness will end up in blessedness, and whoever is among the people of wretchedness will end up in wretchedness."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, "No, keep working, for everyone is made ready for what he was created for. As for the one who is among the people of wretchedness, he is made ready for the deeds of wretchedness, and as for the one who is among the people of blessedness, he is made ready for the deeds of blessedness."Then he recited, "As for the one who gives and is mindful of Allah" up to His words, "We will ease him toward hardship" [Layl 92:5–10].
حدثنا عبد الرحمن حدثنا زائدة عن منصور عن سعد بن عبيدة عن أبي عبد الرحمن
كنا مع جنازة في بقيع الغرقد فأتانا رسول الله ﷺ فجلس وجلسنا حوله ومعه مخصرة ينكت بها ثم رفع بصره فقال ما منكم من نفس منفوسة إلا وقد كتب مقعدها من الجنة والنار إلا قد كتبت شقية أو سعيدة فقال القوم يا رسول الله أفلا نمكث على كتابنا وندع العمل فمن كان من أهل السعادة فسيصير إلى السعادة ومن كان من أهل الشقوة فسيصير إلى الشقوة فقال رسول الله ﷺ بل اعملوا فكل ميسر أما من كان من أهل الشقوة فإنه ييسر لعمل الشقوة وأما من كان من أهل السعادة فإنه ييسر لعمل السعادة ثم قرأ {فأما من أعطى واتقى} إلى قوله {فسنيسره للعسرى}
Its isnad is sahih. Abdul-Rahman is Ibn Mahdi. Zaida is Ibn Qudama Thaqafi, and he is trustworthy, and Ahmad counted him among the four who were reliable in hadith. In h it says Abdul-Rahman bin Zaida, which is an error, and we corrected it from l and h.Baqi Gharqad is the burial ground of the people of Madinah. The original meaning of baqi is a place containing tree roots of various kinds, and gharqad is a type of thorny acacia tree. It was named Baqi because it once contained gharqad trees and had been cleared.Shiqwa, with the shin either as kasra or fatha, means misery and wretchedness.The hadith is given at length in 621, and Ibn Kathir mentioned it in his tafsir 9:221–222 by way of Bukhari's narration, then said, "The rest of the group also transmitted it through various chains from Saad bin Ubayda, with the same wording." The name Saad bin Ubayda was corrupted in Ibn Kathir to Saeed, which I believe is a printing error.See also 19, 184, 196, 311. And see also 1068, 1110, 1181.