Mishkat al-Masabih #88
Faith
The Arabic includes the chain of narration (sanad) and the collector's commentary; the English translation shows the Prophet's words only.
وَعَن عبَادَة بن الصَّامِت قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسلم يَقُول «إِنَّ أَوَّلَ مَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الْقَلَمُ فَقَالَ اكْتُبْ فَقَالَ مَا أَكْتُبُ قَالَ اكْتُبِ الْقَدَرَ مَا كَانَ وَمَا هُوَ كَائِنٌ إِلَى الْأَبَدِ» . رَوَاهُ التِّرْمِذِيُّ وَقَالَ هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ إِسْنَادًا
‘Ubada b. as-Samit reported God’s messenger as saying, “The first thing God created was the pen. He told it to write and when it asked Him what it should write He told it to write what was decreed, so it wrote what had taken place and what would take place to all eternity.”
Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying that this is a tradition whose isnad is gharib.
Topics
About Mishkat al-Masabih
This hadith is #88 from Mishkat al-Masabih, in the Book of Faith.