Abdul Wahid ibn Sulaym narrated: I came to Makkah and met Ata ibn Abu Rabah. I said to him, “O Muhammad, the people of Busrah give (adverse) comments on predestination.” He said, “O son, do you recite the Qur’an’? I said, “Yes!” He said, “Recite (the Surah az-Zukhruf.” So I recited: 'Ha Mim, By the Book (that) is manifest. Surely We have made it an Arabic Qur’an that you may understand. And surely this is in the source Book with Us, it is sublime, full of wisdom.' (43:1-4)
He asked, “Do you realize what the Umm ul Kitab (source Book) is?” I said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He explained, “It is a Book that Allah wrote down even before He created the heaven and before He created the earth. (We read) in it: that Pharaoh is surely among the denizens of the fire) and also: 'Perished are the hands of Abu Lahab, and perished is he.' (111: 1) Ata went on to say, “I had met Walid ibn Ubadah ibn Samit, a Companion of Allah’s Messenger (SAW) and I asked him, “What was your father’s will at the time of death?” He said, “He summoned me and said: O son! Fear Allah and know that you cannot fear Allah till you believe in Allah and believe in predestination both good and evil, but if you die on anything other than this then you will enter Hell. I heard Allah’s Messenger say that the first thing Allah created was the pen and He commanded it: Write. It asked: What shall I write. He said: Write down the decree what was and what will be till eternity.”
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