I was traveling with the Prophet ﷺ, and one morning, as we were riding along, I found myself close to him. I said, "Prophet of Allah, tell me of a deed that will admit me to Paradise and keep me far from the Fire."He replied, "You have asked about something momentous, yet it is easy for anyone whom Allah makes it easy for. Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, establish the prayer, give zakat, fast Ramadan, and make pilgrimage to the House."Then he said, "Shall I show you the gates of goodness? Fasting is a shield, charity extinguishes sin, and so does a man's prayer in the depth of the night."Then he recited the words of Allah Most High, "Their sides forsake their beds" until he reached "what they used to do" [Sajdah 32:16–17].Then he said, "Shall I tell you the head of the matter, its pillar, and the summit of its hump?"I said, "Of course, Messenger of Allah."He said, "The head of the matter and its pillar is the prayer, and the summit of its hump is jihad."Then he said, "Shall I tell you what holds all of that together?"I said to him, "Of course, Prophet of Allah."So he took hold of his tongue and said, "Restrain this."I asked, "Messenger of Allah, are we really to be held accountable for what we say?"He answered, "May your mother be bereft of you, Muaz! Is there anything that throws people face down into the Fire," or he said, "on their noses, other than the harvest of their tongues?"
حدثنا عبد الرزاق أخبرنا معمر عن عاصم بن أبي النجود عن أبي وائل
كنت مع النبي ﷺ في سفر فأصبحت يوما قريبا منه ونحن نسير فقلت يا نبي الله أخبرني بعمل يدخلني الجنة ويباعدني من النار قال لقد سألت عن عظيم وإنه ليسير على من يسره الله عليه تعبد الله ولا تشرك به شيئا وتقيم الصلاة وتؤتي الزكاة وتصوم رمضان وتحج البيت ثم قال ألا أدلك على أبواب الخير الصوم جنة والصدقة تطفئ الخطيئة وصلاة الرجل في جوف الليل ثم قرأ قوله تعالى {تتجافى جنوبهم عن المضاجع} حتى بلغ {يعملون} ثم قال ألا أخبرك برأس الأمر وعموده وذروة سنامه فقلت بلى يا رسول الله قال رأس الأمر وعموده الصلاة وذروة سنامه الجهاد ثم قال ألا أخبرك بملاك ذلك كله فقلت له بلى يا نبي الله فأخذ بلسانه فقال كف عليك هذا فقلت يا رسول الله وإنا لمؤاخذون بما نتكلم به فقال ثكلتك أمك يا معاذ وهل يكب الناس على وجوههم في النار أو قال على مناخرهم إلا حصائد ألسنتهم
Its isnad is sahih, and it has already appeared under 21907. Abu Waail was old enough to have met Muaz in his youth, since he used to say, "I lived through seven years of the pre-Islamic era." This means he lived a long life, according to the view of those who held that he died after the age of eighty.