There were two brothers during the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and one of them was more virtuous than the other. The more virtuous one died first, and the other lived on for forty nights afterward before he too passed away. The superiority of the first over the second was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he asked, "Did the second one not pray?"They replied, "Yes, Messenger of Allah, and he was a decent man."He said, "How can you know what his prayers may have raised him to?" Then he said, "The example of the prayer is like a flowing river full of fresh water at the door of a man, into which he plunges five times every day. What do you think that would leave of his filth?"
كان رجلان أخوان في عهد رسول الله ﷺ، وكان أحدهما أفضل من الآخر، فتوفي الذي هو أفضلهما، ثم عمر الآخر بعده أربعين ليلة، ثم توفي، فذكر لرسول الله ﷺ فضل الأول على الآخر، فقال: ألم يكن يصلي؟ فقالوا: بلي يا رسول الله! فكان لا بأس به، فقال: ما يدريكم ماذا بلغت به صلاته، ثم قال عند ذلك: إنما مثل الصلاة كمثل نهر جار بباب رجل، غمر عذب، يقتحم فيه كل يوم خمس مرات، فماذا ترون يبقى ذلك من درنه.
Ahmad narrated it (1534). He said, Harun bin Maruf told us - Abdullah said, and I also heard it myself from Harun - Abdullah bin Wahb told us, Makhrama told me, from his father, from Amir bin Saad bin Abu Waqqas, who said, I heard Saad, and he related the hadith.Ibn Khuzayma also graded it sahih (310), and Hakim (1/200), both narrating it through the route of Abdullah bin Wahb. Hakim said, "Its isnad is sahih, though the two of them (Bukhari and Muslim) did not include it, since neither of them narrated from Makhrama bin Bukayr. The reason for this is that a group of the people of Egypt mentioned that he did not hear from his father due to his young age, though some of them affirmed that he did hear from him." End of quote.Its isnad is hasan on account of Makhrama, since there is disagreement about him. Ahmad and Ibn Saad deemed him reliable, while Ibn Main deemed him weak. Nasai said, "There is no harm in him." Abu Hatim said, "His hadith is acceptable."This hadith also appears in Muwatta Malik, in the Book of Shortening the Prayer (91), except that he narrated it as a balagh (with an incomplete chain) from Amir bin Saad bin Abu Waqqas, from his father, and in it, it reads, "Was the other not a Muslim?" instead of "Did he not used to pray?" He also repeated at the end of the hadith, "You do not know how much his prayer amounted to.""The abundant river" (al-nahr al-ghamr) means the one with plentiful water. The hadith of Saad bin Waqqas is the most correct version.It has also been narrated from Talha bin Ubaydullah, who said that two men from the tribe of Bali came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they had both accepted Islam together. One of them was more diligent in striving than the other. The more diligent one went out to fight and was martyred, while the other remained after him for a year and then died.Talha said, I saw in a dream that while I was at the gate of Paradise, I suddenly saw the two of them. Someone came out from Paradise and gave permission to the one who had died last, then he went back in and gave permission to the one who had been martyred. Then he returned to me and said, "Go back, for your time has not yet come."In the morning, Talha related this to the people, and they were amazed at it. This reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they related the story to him. He said, "What is it that amazes you about that?" They said, "Messenger of Allah, this one was the more diligent of the two men in striving, then he was martyred, yet this other one entered Paradise before him." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Did this one not remain after him for a year?" They said, "Yes indeed." He said, "And did he not live to see Ramadan and fast it, and pray such and such a number of sajdahs in that year?" They said, "Yes indeed." The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Then the distance between the two of them is greater than the distance between the sky and the earth."Ibn Majah narrated it (3925), as did Ibn Hibban (2952), Ahmad (1403), and Bayhaqi (3/371–372), all of them through the route of Yazid bin Abdullah bin Had, from Muhammad bin Ibrahim Taymi, from Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman, from Talha bin Ubaydullah, relating the like of it. But there is a break in this chain, for Abu Salama bin Abdul-Rahman did not hear anything from Talha bin Ubaydullah, as Ali bin Madini, Ibn Main, and others have stated.However, Muhammad bin Amr narrated it from Abu Salama, inserting Abu Hurairah between them. This is how Imam Ahmad narrated it (8399), from Muhammad bin Bishr, who said, Muhammad bin Amr told us, Abu Salama told us, from Abu Hurairah, who said, There were two men from Bali - a tribe of Quda'a - who accepted Islam together with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. One of them was martyred, while the other was delayed for a year.Talha bin Ubaydullah said, I was shown Paradise, and I saw the one who had been delayed enter Paradise before the martyr. I was amazed at that, and in the morning I mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ, or it was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Did he not fast Ramadan after him, and pray six thousand rakats - or such and such a number of rakats - the prayer of that year?"Then Imam Ahmad also narrated it (8400) from Yazid bin Harun, who said, Muhammad bin Amr informed us, from Abu Salama, from Talha bin Ubaydullah, relating the hadith.So Muhammad bin Amr bin Alqama bin Waqqas Laythi was inconsistent in this matter. Although he is among the narrators found in the six major collections, when Ibn Main was asked about him, he said, "People have always been cautious about his hadith." He was asked, "What is the reason for that?" He said, "He would sometimes narrate something from Abu Salama on his own authority, and then narrate the same thing another time from Abu Salama, from Abu Hurairah." Juzjani said, "His hadith is not strong, though it is desirable."I say, his hadith is hasan as long as it is not contradicted.