Hadeeth about the man who will be commanded to be taken to Hell, but he will turn to his Lord hoping that He would admit him to Paradise, and He will admit him to Paradise

This is the meaning of a hadeeth that was narrated by Ibn al-Mubaarak in az-Zuhd (409) and via him by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (22287) and by Ibn ‘Abi’d-Dunya in Hasan az-Zann Billah (58). Ibn al-Mubaarak said: Rishdeen ibn Sa‘d informed us: Abu Haani’ al-Khawlaani told us, from ‘Amr ibn Maalik al-Janbi, that Faddalah ibn ‘Ubayd and ‘Ubaadah ibn as-Saamit told him that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “On the Day of Resurrection, when Allah, may He be exalted, has finished judging mankind, there will be two men left who will be commanded to be taken into Hell. One of them will turn around and the Compeller (Allah, may He be exalted) will say: Send him back. And they will send him back. He will say to him: Why did you turn around? He will say: I was hoping that You would admit me to Paradise. And it will be commanded to take him to Paradise. He will say: Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has given me that which, if I were to feed the people of Paradise, that would not detract at all from what I have.” And whenever the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned that, happiness could be seen on his face. 

Al-Haythami said in al-Majma‘, 10/698 

It was narrated by Ahmad and its men were regarded as trustworthy despite the weakness of some of them. End quote. 

It narrators are trustworthy except Rishdeen ibn Sa‘d who is da‘eef. See: Tahdheeb at-Tahdheeb, 3/240241; Mizaan al-I‘tidaal, 2/49 

A similar, more sound and clearer hadeeth was narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh (187) from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him), according to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: 

“The last one to enter Paradise will be a man who will walk once, stumble once and be burned by the Fire once. When he gets past it, he will turn to it and say, ‘Blessed be the One Who has saved me from you. Allaah has given me something that He has not given to the first and the last.’ A tree will be raised up for him, and he will say, ‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I might shelter in its shade and drink of its water.’ Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted, will say: ‘O son of Adam, perhaps if I give you that, you will ask Me for something else.’ He will say, ‘No, O Lord,’ and he will promise that he will not ask Him for anything else, and his Lord will excuse him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. So he will be brought near to it and he will shelter in its shade and drink of its water. Then another tree will be raised up for him that is more beautiful than the first, and he will say: ‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I might drink of its water and shelter in its shade, and I will not ask You for anything else.’  He will say: ‘O son of Adam, did you not promise Me that you would not ask Me for anything else?’ He will say: ‘Perhaps if I bring you near to it, you will ask Me for something else.’ He will promise that he will not ask Him for anything else, and his Lord will excuse him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. So he will be brought near to it and he will shelter in its shade and drink of its water. Then another tree will be raised up for him at the gate of Paradise that is more beautiful than the first two, and he will say: ‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I might shelter in its shade and drink of its water, and I will not ask You for anything else.’  He will say: ‘O son of Adam, did you not promise Me that you would not ask Me for anything else?’ he will say, ‘No, O Lord, I will not ask You for anything else.’ His Lord will excuse him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. He will be brought close to it, and when he draws close to it, he will hear the voices of the people of Paradise and will say, ‘O Lord, admit me therein.’ He will say: ‘O son of Adam, what will make you stop asking? Will it please you if I give you the world and as much again?’ He will say: ‘O Lord, are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’” 

Ibn Mas’ood smiled and said: Why don’t you ask me why I am smiling? They said: Why are you smiling? He said: This is how the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) smiled and they said: Why are you smiling, O Messenger of Allaah? He said: “Because the Lord of the Worlds will smile when he says, ‘are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ and will say: ‘I am not making fun of you, but I am Able to do whatever I will.’” 

And Allah knows best.