Abdul-Wahid bin Sulaym reported,

I came to Makkah and met Ata bin Abu Rabah, and I said to him, "Abu Muhammad, the people of Basra are disputing about divine decree."He said, "My son, do you recite the Quran?"I said, "Yes."He said, "Then recite Zukhruf."So I recited, "Ha Meem. By the clear Book, We have made it an Arabic Quran so that you may understand. And indeed it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom." [Zukhruf 43:1–4]Then he asked, "Do you know what the Mother of the Book is?"I said, "Allah and His Messenger know best."He said, "It is a book that Allah wrote before He created the heavens and before He created the earth. In it is written that Pharaoh is among the people of the Fire, and in it is written, 'Perished are the hands of Abu Lahab, and perished is he.'" [Masad 111:1]Ata said, "I then met Walid bin Ubada bin Samit, the companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I asked him what his father had counselled him at the time of his death."Walid replied, "My father called me and said, 'My son, be mindful of Allah, and know that you will never truly be mindful of Allah until you believe in Allah and believe in divine decree in its entirety, both its good and its evil. If you die holding anything other than this, you will enter the Fire. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, "The first thing Allah created was the pen. He said to it, 'Write.' It asked, 'What shall I write?' He said, 'Write the decree, all that has been and all that will be, for ever.'"'"

حدثنا يحيى بن موسى حدثنا أبو داود الطيالسي

حدثنا عبد الواحد بن سليم قال

قدمت مكة فلقيت عطاء بن أبي رباح فقلت له يا أبا محمد إن أهل البصرة يقولون في القدر قال يا بني أتقرأ القرآن قلت نعم قال فاقرأ الزخرف قال فقرأت {حم والكتاب المبين إنا جعلناه قرآنا عربيا لعلكم تعقلون وإنه في أم الكتاب لدينا لعلي حكيم} فقال أتدري ما أم الكتاب قلت الله ورسوله أعلم قال فإنه كتاب كتبه الله قبل أن يخلق السماوات وقبل أن يخلق الأرض فيه إن فرعون من أهل النار وفيه {تبت يدا أبي لهب وتب} قال عطاء فلقيت الوليد بن عبادة بن الصامت صاحب رسول الله ﷺ فسألته ما كان وصية أبيك عند الموت قال دعاني أبي فقال لي يا بني اتق الله واعلم أنك لن تتقي الله حتى تؤمن بالله وتؤمن بالقدر كله خيره وشره فإن مت على غير هذا دخلت النار إني سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول إن أول ما خلق الله القلم فقال اكتب فقال ما أكتب قال اكتب القدر ما كان وما هو كائن إلى الأبد