The people kept asking the Prophet of Allah ﷺ questions until they pressed him too much. So one day he came out, climbed the pulpit, and said, "Ask me. You will not ask me about anything except that I will explain it to you."When the people heard this, they fell silent and were filled with fear that something serious was about to happen.Anas said, "I began looking right and left, and there was every man wrapping his head in his garment, weeping."Then a man stood up in the mosque, one who used to be quarreled with and accused of not being his father's son, and he said, "Prophet of Allah, who is my father?"He replied, "Your father is Hudhafah."Then Umar bin Khattab stood up and said, "We are content with Allah as Lord, with Islam as religion, and with Muhammad as Messenger. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of trials."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I have never seen anything like today in good and evil. Paradise and the Fire were shown to me, and I saw them both right behind this wall."
أن الناس سألوا نبي الله ﷺ حتى أحفوه بالمسألة، فخرج ذات يوم، فصعد المنبر، فقال: سلوني، لا تسألوني عن شيء إلا بينته لكم. فلما سمع ذلك القوم أردوا ورهبوا أن يكون بين يدي أمر قد حضر. قال أنس: فجعلت ألتفت يمينا وشمالا، فإذا كل رجل لآف رأسه في ثوبه يبكي، فأنشأ رجل من المسجد، كان يلاحى فيدعى لغير أبيه، فقال: يا نبي الله من أبي؟ قال: أبوك حذافة. ثم أنشأ عمر بن الخطاب. فقال: رضينا بالله ربا وبالإسلام دينا وبمحمد رسولا، عائذا بالله من سوء الفتن. فقال رسول الله ﷺ: لم أر كاليوم قط في الخير والشر. إني صورت لي الجنة والنار، فرأيتهما دون هذا الحائط.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Supplications (6362), and Muslim in the Book of Virtues (2359: 137), both from the hadith of Hisham bin Urwa, from Qatada, from Anas, as mentioned. The wording given is that of Muslim, and Bukhari's wording is similar. He said, "Qatada used to mention this verse in connection with this hadith, "O you who believe, do not ask about things which, if made clear to you, would trouble you" [Maidah 5:101]."His saying, "Press them hard with questioning" means to be excessive in insistence and exaggeration in it. It is said ahfa, alhafa, and alahha, all with the same meaning.His saying, "They fell silent" means they became quiet. Its root comes from al-marmah, which is the lip, meaning they pressed their lips together and did not speak.His saying, "He was being quarreled with" refers to mulahat, which means disputing and cursing.