Volume 6, Book 60, Number 3:
Narrated Anas:
The Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam said,
"On the Day of Resurrection the Believers will
assemble and say, 'Let us ask somebody to
intercede for us with our Lord.' So they will
go to Adam and say, 'You are the father of all
the people, and Allah created you with His
Own Hands, and ordered the angels to
prostrate to you, and taught you the names of
all things; so please intercede for us with your
Lord, so that He may relieve us from this place
of ours.' Adam will say, 'I am not fit for this
(i.e. intercession for you).' Then Adam will
remember his sin and feel ashamed thereof.
He will say, 'Go to Noah, for he was the first
Apostle, Allah sent to the inhabitants of the
earth.' They will go to him and Noah will say,
'I am not fit for this undertaking.' He will
remember his appeal to his Lord to do what
he had no knowledge of, then he will feel
ashamed thereof and will say, 'Go to the
Khalil--r-Rahman (i.e. Abraham).' They will go
to him and he will say, 'I am not fit for this
undertaking. Go to Moses, the slave to whom
Allah spoke (directly) and gave him the
Torah .' So they will go to him and he will say,
'I am not fit for this undertaking.' and he will
mention (his) killing a person who was not a
killer, and so he will feel ashamed thereof
before his Lord, and he will say, 'Go to Jesus,
Allah's Slave, His Apostle and Allah's Word and
a Spirit coming from Him. Jesus will say, 'I am
not fit for this undertaking, go to Muhammad
the Slave of Allah whose past and future sins
were forgiven by Allah.' So they will come to
me and I will proceed till I will ask my Lord's
Permission and I will be given permission.
When I see my Lord, I will fall down in
Prostration and He will let me remain in that
state as long as He wishes and then I will be
addressed.' (Muhammad!) Raise your head.
Ask, and your request will be granted; say,
and your saying will be listened to; intercede,
and your intercession will be accepted.' I will
raise my head and praise Allah with a saying
(i.e. invocation) He will teach me, and then I
will intercede. He will fix a limit for me (to
intercede for) whom I will admit into
Paradise. Then I will come back again to Allah,
and when I see my Lord, the same thing will
happen to me. And then I will intercede and
Allah will fix a limit for me to intercede whom
I will let into Paradise, then I will come back
for the third time; and then I will come back
for the fourth time, and will say, 'None
remains in Hell but those whom the Quran
has imprisoned (in Hell) and who have been
destined to an eternal stay in Hell.' " (The
compiler) Abu 'Abdullah said: 'But those
whom the Qur'an has imprisoned in Hell,'
refers to the Statement of Allah:
"They will dwell therein forever." (16.29)