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What is the meaning of the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: "May what you have come to be in be pleasing to you, from what the people have come to be in"?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Imam Ahmad and others narrated from Abu Muwayhibah, the freed slave of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, went with him at night to Al-Baqi' to seek forgiveness for its inhabitants. When he stood among them, he greeted them and said: "May what you have attained be pleasing to you, compared to what the people have attained. If only you knew what Allah has saved you from. Tribulations have approached like sections of a dark night; the latter ones follow the former ones, and the last of them is worse than the first." Then he informed him that he was given a choice between the keys to the treasures of the world and eternal life in it, followed by Paradise, or meeting his Lord and Paradise. So he chose to meet his Lord and Paradise. After that, he sought forgiveness for the people of Al-Baqi', and then his illness, from which he passed away, began.

It is worth noting that there is weakness in the chain of narration of this hadith.

The meaning of "May what you have attained be pleasing to you, compared to what the people have attained" is: Congratulations on the blessings and honor from Allah that you are in, at a time when tribulations have successively afflicted people like sections of a dark night. If you knew what Allah has saved you from of these tribulations, along with the blessings of Allah you are experiencing, you would realize the immense favor of Allah upon you. This is similar to his saying, peace and blessings be upon him, to Ubayy ibn Ka'b: "May knowledge be pleasing to you, Abu Al-Mundhir." And "liyahn" means "it became pleasing."

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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