Hadithcore
Sahih al-Bukhari, 3191
sahih

Narrated Imran bin Husain:

I went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and tied my she-camel at the gate. The people of Bani Tamim came to the Prophet (ﷺ) who said "O Bani Tamim! Accept the good tidings." They said twice, 'You have given us the good tidings, now give us something" Then some Yemenites came to him and he said, "Accept the good tidings, O people of Yemem, for Bani Tamim refused them." They said, "We accept it, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) ! We have come to ask you about this matter (i.e. the start of creations)." He said, "First of all, there was nothing but Allah, and (then He created His Throne). His throne was over the water, and He wrote everything in the Book (in the Heaven) and created the Heavens and the Earth." Then a man shouted, "O Ibn Husain! Your she-camel has gone away!" So, I went away and could not see the she-camel because of the mirage. By Allah, I wished I had left that she-camel (but not that gathering).

حَدَّثَنَا عُمَرُ بْنُ حَفْصِ بْنِ غِيَاثٍ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، حَدَّثَنَا جَامِعُ بْنُ شَدَّادٍ، عَنْ صَفْوَانَ بْنِ مُحْرِزٍ، أَنَّهُ حَدَّثَهُ عَنْ عِمْرَانَ بْنِ حُصَيْنٍ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ دَخَلْتُ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَعَقَلْتُ نَاقَتِي بِالْبَابِ، فَأَتَاهُ نَاسٌ مِنْ بَنِي تَمِيمٍ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ اقْبَلُوا الْبُشْرَى يَا بَنِي تَمِيمٍ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالُوا قَدْ بَشَّرْتَنَا فَأَعْطِنَا‏.‏ مَرَّتَيْنِ، ثُمَّ دَخَلَ عَلَيْهِ نَاسٌ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْيَمَنِ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ اقْبَلُوا الْبُشْرَى يَا أَهْلَ الْيَمَنِ، إِذْ لَمْ يَقْبَلْهَا بَنُو تَمِيمٍ ‏"‏‏.‏ قَالُوا قَدْ قَبِلْنَا يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، قَالُوا جِئْنَاكَ نَسْأَلُكَ عَنْ هَذَا الأَمْرِ قَالَ ‏"‏ كَانَ اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ شَىْءٌ غَيْرُهُ، وَكَانَ عَرْشُهُ عَلَى الْمَاءِ، وَكَتَبَ فِي الذِّكْرِ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ، وَخَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ ‏"‏‏.‏ فَنَادَى مُنَادٍ ذَهَبَتْ نَاقَتُكَ يَا ابْنَ الْحُصَيْنِ‏.‏ فَانْطَلَقْتُ فَإِذَا هِيَ يَقْطَعُ دُونَهَا السَّرَابُ، فَوَاللَّهِ لَوَدِدْتُ أَنِّي كُنْتُ تَرَكْتُهَا‏.‏

References2 variants
In-Book Reference
Book 59, Hadith 2
USC-MSA web (English) reference
Vol. 4, Book 54, Hadith 414 (deprecated numbering scheme)
Sharh · explanationclick to expand
Certainly, Allah is One and Unique,and His attributes areMajestic and Perfect.The Prophet ﷺ has informed us about the beginning and the end of creation so that we can sense the grandeur of Allah, the Sublime. In this hadeeth, ‘Imraan ibnal-Husayn(may Allah be pleased with him)reports that he once went to see the Prophet ﷺ in the Prophet’s Mosque, and before entering the Mosque, he tied his she-camel to the door. On this day,a group of people from Banoo Tameem visited the Prophet ﷺ, andheﷺ met them in a way that warms up the hearts.He ﷺ told them to accept the glad tiding of what he was saying to them;this would follow from them receiving the good news about entrance into Paradise.They replied, “You have already given us the good news; now give us something.”They repeated this twice.Their most important focus was on worldly gainsso that they did not understand well the good news given to them apart from material gifts. Afterwards, some people from Yemen entered upon the Prophetﷺ,and he told them toaccept the glad tiding since Banoo Tameem failed to accept it.These people were from the clan al-Ash’aree from Yemen, and their response was different from that of Banee Tameem,i.e. they accepted it happily and then asked him about the universe.Thereupon, the Prophet ﷺ mentioned to them about the beginning of the creation and the Throne. He ﷺinformed them that there was nothing but Allah, whoseexistence is eternal as He is without a beginning or end. Nothing existed besides Him, neither the water nor the Throne nor anything else. His Throne was over the water, which is the Throne on which He, the Majestic, rose.It is the topmost of allthe creations and the greatest and the biggest of them all.Allah has described it asgrand in terms of size and the quality of beauty. The Prophet ﷺ added thatAllahwrote everything that will occur until the Day of Judgement, and then He created the Heavens and the Earth. In other words, Allah existed before everything, and there was nothing but Him. Then, He created the water first, and then the Throne – or He created the Throne in the upper side and the water in the lower side - and then created the Pen and the Preserved Tablet, and then the Heavens and Earth. This is the chronological order of the creation. After, ‘Imraan relates that during this conversation, a person informed him that his she-camel had disappearedi.e.it had escaped from her rope and run away. ‘Imraan pursued her, until she had gone so far that a mirage happened to veil in front of her.Thereupon, ‘Imraan swore that he wished he had left her to disappear and remained in the gathering of the Prophet ﷺ to listen to the remaining hadeeth. This hadeeth is an urging and encouragement to attend the gatherings of knowledge. It highlights the virtue of learning the sacred knowledge and listening to it. It shows that we should give precedence to seeking the sacred knowledge over seeking wealth..
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