I came to Safwan bin Assal al-Muradi to ask him about wiping over the leather socks. He said, "What has brought you here, Zirr?"I replied, "The pursuit of knowledge."He said, "The angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge out of pleasure with what he seeks."I said, "Something has been troubling my heart concerning wiping over the leather socks after relieving oneself and urinating. Since you are one of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, I have come to ask you whether you heard him mention anything about this."He said, "Yes. He used to command us, when we were travelers, not to remove our leather socks for three days and their nights, except from major impurity, but not from relieving oneself, urinating, or sleeping."I asked, "Did you hear him mention anything regarding personal inclination?"He said, "Yes. We were with the Prophet ﷺ on a journey. While we were with him, an Arabi called out to him in a loud, booming voice, 'Muhammad!' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ answered him in a voice similar to his, 'Here I am.'We said to the man, 'Woe to you, lower your voice, for you are in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, and you have been forbidden from this.'He said, 'By Allah, I will not lower it.'The Arabi then said, 'What of a man who loves a people but has not yet joined them?'The Prophet ﷺ said, 'A man will be with those he loves on the Day of Resurrection.'He continued speaking to us until he mentioned a gate in the direction of the west, the breadth of which is a journey of seventy years, or that a rider would travel across its width for forty or seventy years."Sufyan said, "It is in the direction of Sham. Allah created it open on the day He created the heavens and the earth," meaning open for repentance, "and it will not be closed until the sun rises from it."
حدثنا ابن أبي عمر حدثنا سفيان عن عاصم بن أبي النجود
أتيت صفوان بن عسال المرادي أسأله عن المسح على الخفين فقال ما جاء بك يا زر فقلت ابتغاء العلم فقال إن الملائكة لتضع أجنحتها لطالب العلم رضا بما يطلب فقلت إنه حك في صدري المسح على الخفين بعد الغائط والبول وكنت امرأ من أصحاب النبي ﷺ فجئت أسألك هل سمعته يذكر في ذلك شيئا قال نعم كان يأمرنا إذا كنا سفرا أو مسافرين أن لا ننزع خفافنا ثلاثة أيام ولياليهن إلا من جنابة لكن من غائط وبول ونوم فقلت هل سمعته يذكر في الهوى شيئا قال نعم كنا مع النبي ﷺ في سفر فبينا نحن عنده إذ ناداه أعرابي بصوت له جهوري يا محمد فأجابه رسول الله ﷺ نحوا من صوته هاؤم فقلنا له ويحك اغضض من صوتك فإنك عند النبي ﷺ وقد نهيت عن هذا فقال والله لا أغضض قال الأعرابي المرء يحب القوم ولما يلحق بهم قال النبي ﷺ المرء مع من أحب يوم القيامة فما زال يحدثنا حتى ذكر بابا من قبل المغرب مسيرة سبعين عاما عرضه أو يسير الراكب في عرضه أربعين أو سبعين عاما قال سفيان قبل الشام خلقه الله يوم خلق السموات والأرض مفتوحا يعني للتوبة لا يغلق حتى تطلع الشمس منه
[Hasan]Takhrij: Ibn Majah also recorded it, no. 478, as did Nasai, 1/83, no. 127, and Humaydi, no. 883, from the hadith of Sufyan bin Uyayna, through the same route, both in shortened and extended forms. Ibn Khuzayma graded it sahih, 1/13, 14, 97, 99, as did Ibn Hibban, no. 1318, 1316, 1322, and others. See also no. 96, 2387, and the hadith that follows.