The Promise of Paradise

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told the army that every man who fought them bravely and advanced without retreating would have Allah give him entry into Paradise. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stands up in front of the army and says, "Go forth toward the garden the size of the heavens and earth combined." So ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥumām (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Messenger of Allah, could the garden really be the size of the heavens and the earth combined?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Yes." He said, "Bakhin, bakhin" — well, well. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "What makes you say that?" He said, "O Messenger of Allah, it is only my hope of being one of its people." He had some dates which he drew out of his pocket, and he started eating those dates, and then he said, "If I live long enough to eat these dates, it would be a long life" (Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, no. 1901). He was so inspired by that exhortation from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), so eager to die in the path of Allah, the Almighty and Majestic, that he considered it too long a life even to finish the dates in his hand, and he threw them down and rushed into the fray of battle.