I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "The first thing Allah the Exalted created was the Pen. He took it in His right hand, and both of His hands are right hands."He continued, "Then He wrote down the world and all that would occur within it, whether deeds of righteousness or wickedness, whether moist or dry, and recorded it all with Him in the Reminder. Recite if you wish, 'This, Our record, speaks about you in truth. Indeed, We were having transcribed whatever you used to do' [Jathiyah 45:29]. And does a transcription come from anything other than something already completed?"
سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: أول ما خلق الله تعالى القلم فأخذه بيمينه وكلتا يديه يمين- قال: فكتب الدنيا وما يكون فيها من عمل معمول بر أو فجور، رطب أو يابس، فأحصاه عنده في الذكر، فقال: اقرأوا إن شئتم: {هذا كتبنا ينطق عليكم بالحق إنا كنا نستنسخ ما كنتم تعملون} [سورة الجاثية: ٢٩]، فهل تكون النسخة إلا من شيء قد فرغ منه.
Ibn Abu Asim narrated it in Sunnah (106) from Ibn Musaffa, who said, Baqiya narrated to us, Artah bin Munzir narrated to me, from Mujahid bin Jubayr, from Ibn Umar, and he mentioned something similar. Firyabi narrated it in Qadar (416), and from him Ajurri in Shariah (340), and Ibn Batta in Ibana (1365), through two other routes from Baqiya bin Walid, with his chain, mentioning the same. Its chain is hasan due to the discussion surrounding Baqiya, except that his hadith is hasan when he states his source explicitly.As for what is reported from Abu Hurairah, who said, I heard the Messenger of Allah say, "The first thing Allah created was the Pen. Then He created the Nun, which is the inkwell. Then He said to it, 'Write.' It said, 'What shall I write?' He said, 'Write what will happen and what already exists, of deeds, or traces, or provision, or a lifespan.' So it wrote what will happen and what already exists until the Day of Resurrection. That is the meaning of His saying, "Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe" [Qalam 68:1]. Then a seal was placed upon the pen so that it did not speak, nor will it speak until the Day of Resurrection. Then He created the intellect and said, 'By My might, whomever I love, I will surely make up for through you, and whomever I hate, I will surely diminish through you.'"This is daif. Firyabi narrated it in Qadar (18) from Abu Marwan Hisham bin Khalid Azraq Dimashqi, who said, Hasan bin Yahya Khushani narrated to us, from Abu Abdullah, the freedman of Banu Umaya, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it. Ajurri narrated it in Shariah (179, 345) from Firyabi. Ibn Batta narrated it in Ibana (1364) through another route from Hisham bin Khalid, with his chain, the same.In it is Hasan bin Yahya Khushani, about whom Nasai said, "He is not trustworthy." Ibn Main's opinion of him varied. Ibn Abu Maryam reported from him that he said, "He is a trustworthy Khurasani," while Abbas Duri reported from him that he said, "A Syrian, worthless." Ibn Junayd reported from Yahya, "Hasan bin Yahya Khushani and Maslama bin Ali Khushani are both daif, worthless, but Hasan bin Yahya is more preferable to me of the two." Daraqutni said, "Discarded." Ibn Hibban mentioned him in Majruhin and said, "He is extremely unreliable in hadith. He reports from trustworthy narrators things that have no basis, and from meticulous narrators things not corroborated by anyone else. He was a righteous man who narrated from memory, but was excessively prone to error in what he transmitted, to the point that his reports contained gross irregularities, such that one is inclined to think he did so deliberately. For this reason he deserves to be discarded. I have heard Ibn Jawsa vouch for him as trustworthy."Ibn Adi said, "Hasan bin Yahya has a portion of hadith, or less, which Muhammad bin Qazzaz narrated to us from Hisham bin Khalid, from Hasan, containing that portion. I do not think he has anything beyond these except an occasional hadith here and there, and the most irregular thing I have seen from him are these hadiths that I have dictated. He is among those whose narration may be tolerated." End of quote from Kamil (2/736–737).I say, Ibn Adi did not mention the aforementioned hadith of Abu Hurairah, and its narrator, Hisham bin Khalid, transmitting from Hasan bin Yahya, had a specific portion of hadith, and the mentioned hadith belongs to that portion. Ibn Adi confirmed that it is not among his irregular reports, so Allah, exalted is He, knows best whether this hadith is sound or not. However, if someone were to cite it among corroborating evidence, he would not be blamed for it.Likewise, what is reported from Abu Hurairah as a saying of the Prophet does not hold up, "The knowledge has preceded, the pen has dried, the decree has passed, and the predestination is complete." Bayhaqi narrated it in Qada wal-Qadar (1/194) through the route of Hassan bin Hassan, who said, Ismail bin Ibrahim narrated to us, from Ibn Awn, from Ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it. Bayhaqi said, "Hassan bin Hassan alone transmitted it, though its meaning is found in the sahih hadiths."I say, Hassan bin Hassan is Wasiti, and the Hafiz said in Taqrib, "Daif."