abundance of good deeds, and may Allah Almighty and His Beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم be pleased with us on this night.

اٰمِیْنْ بِجَاہِ خاتَمِ النَّبِیّٖن صلَّی اللہُ عَلَیْہ ِوَاٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّمَ

صَلُّوۡا عَلَى الۡحَبِيۡب                          صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلٰى مُحَمَّد

The Man with the Iron Face

Dear Islamic brothers! Come, let us listen to an admonitory incident and learn from it.

Sayyiduna Marthad bin Hawshab رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه  narrates: “I once visited Sayyiduna Yusuf bin ‘Amr رَحْمَةُ الـلّٰـهِ عَـلَيْه. Beside him sat a strange man whose face was partially made of iron. That man began to relate his story: ‘In my youth, a plague spread throughout our area; (people were dying rapidly). I thought to myself, I should work as a gravedigger. So, I began digging graves.

One evening, between Maghrib and ‘Isha, I had just finished preparing a grave and was sitting nearby. Soon, a funeral arrived; we buried the deceased, covered him with soil, and everyone returned home. I remained there alone. Suddenly, two large white birds, each the size of a camel, descended near the newly-dug grave. One stood at the head side, the other at the foot. They began digging into the grave until one of them went down inside. I watched in astonishment as the bird inside struck the deceased with a powerful slap and said, “Are you the same person who used to wear shining clothes and drag them arrogantly when visiting your in-laws?” The dead man screamed, “Ah! I cannot bear this!” The bird struck him again with such force that the oil and fluids of the body burst out and flowed within the grave. Then the corpse was restored to its original form, and the bird said again: “Are you not the one who used to wear glittering garments and walk arrogantly towards your in-laws?” Saying this, it struck him yet again, three times in total. At that moment, one of the birds looked towards me and said to the other: “May Allah disgrace him! Look at this man sitting here!”

Then it gave me one slap, so fierce that I remained unconscious the entire