The Writing on the Door of Paradise

Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ al-Yaḥṣubī, the great Mālikī jurist, very famous, from Andalusia, the author of al-Shifāʾ, the very famous work on the biography of the Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him), narrates in his Shifāʾ a hadith from Ibn ʿAbbās: that on the door of Paradise, right at the entrance, there is a saying. What might it be? O Allah, make us of those who read this writing and enter in, if Allah wills. There is a writing, a lawḥah, a beautiful inscription on the door of Paradise, on the gates of Paradise, and what it says is: lā ilāha illallāh Muḥammadur rasūlullāh; whoever says this, I shall not punish him. Allah (swt) says: whoever says lā ilāha illallāh Muḥammadur rasūlullāh — as it stands in the writing — I shall not punish him.

One of the mashāyikh relates that when Adam (peace be upon him) was cast down upon the earth — cast down, sent out of Paradise — he wandered for forty-odd years, constantly crying: O Allah, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. His wife was in Sarandīb, in India,^*** and he was somewhere on the other side, and they went about constantly looking for each other — the wife on one side, Adam on the other — constantly weeping and asking for forgiveness, the only human beings on the earth, on this whole extraordinary planet. Where did they meet each other? At ʿArafah; and Allah accepted their supplication — Jabal al-Raḥmah, the Mount of Mercy. The scholars say that Allah accepted the supplication of Adam (peace be upon him) for one reason, one particular thing he said one day. He said: O my Lord, when I was coming out of Paradise I saw at its gates, next to Your name, one name — lā ilāha illallāh, and after it I saw a name; for the love You have for him, please forgive me: Muḥammad Muṣṭafā (peace be upon him). And Allah (swt) forgave Adam (peace be upon him). Allah knows best; Allah (swt) forgave Adam (peace be upon him) because of this — because of Muḥammad Muṣṭafā (peace be upon him).