“I came to Ṣafwān b ʿAssāl al-Murādī to ask him about wiping over the socks, so he asked: ‘What has brought you, O Zirr?’ So I said: ‘The desire for knowledge.’ So he said: ‘Indeed, the angels lower their wings for the seeker of knowledge, out of pleasure with what he is seeking.’

So I said: ‘Indeed there is some doubt in my chest concerning wiping over the socks after defecation and urination, and you were a man from the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, so I came to you to ask you: Have you heard him ﷺ mention anything concerning that?’ He said: ‘Yes, he ﷺ used to order us, that when we were travelers’ - or - ‘in travel, to not remove our socks for three days and nights except, from sexual impurity, but not from defecation, urination, and sleep.’”

He said: “Have you heard him ﷺ mention anything concerning love?” He said: “Yes. We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey when a Bedouin with a loud voice called upon him (saying): ‘O Muhammad!’ So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ responded to him with a voice similar to him (saying): ‘Come.’ So we said to him: ‘Woe to you! Lower your voice for you are with the Prophet ﷺ, and you have been prohibited from this.’ He said: ‘By Allah, I will not lower (my voice).’ The Bedouin said: ‘Can a person love a people and yet not catch up to them ˹in terms of good deeds˺?’ He ﷺ said: ‘A person is with whomever he loves on the Day of Judgement.’”

So ˹the Prophet ﷺ˺ kept on talking to us until he mentioned a gate in the direction of the west with the width of seventy years journey - or a rider would travel its width - for forty or seventy years.” Sufyan added: “In the direction of Shām, Allah created it the day He created the heavens and the earth, being open – that is, for repentance – and it shall not be shut until the sun rises ˹from that direction˺ (on the Last Day).”  

أَتَيْتُ صَفْوَانَ بْنَ عَسَّالٍ الْمُرَادِيَّ أَسْأَلُهُ عَنِ الْمَسْحِ عَلَى الْخُفَّيْنِ فَقَالَ: مَا جَاءَ بِكَ يَا زِرُّ؟ فَقُلْتُ: ابْتِغَاءَ الْعِلْمِ۔ فَقَالَ: إِنَّ الْمَلاَئِكَةَ تَضَعُ أَجْنِحَتَهَا لِطَالِبِ الْعِلْمِ رِضًا بِمَا يَطْلُبُ۔

قُلْتُ: إِنَّهُ حَكَّ فِي صَدْرِي الْمَسْحُ عَلَى الْخُفَّيْنِ بَعْدَ الْغَائِطِ وَالْبَوْلِ وَكُنْتَ امْرَأً مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَجِئْتُ أَسْأَلُكَ هَلْ سَمِعْتَهُ يَذْكُرُ فِي ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، كَانَ يَأْمُرُنَا إِذَا كُنَّا سَفَرًا أَوْ مُسَافِرِيِنَ أَنْ لاَ نَنْزِعَ خِفَافَنَا ثَلاَثَةَ أَيَّامٍ وَلَيَالِيَهُنَّ إِلاَّ مِنْ جَنَابَةٍ، لَكِنْ مِنْ غَائِطٍ وَبَوْلٍ وَنَوْمٍ۔

فَقُلْتُ: هَلْ سَمِعْتَهُ يَذْكُرُ فِي الْهَوَى شَيْئًا؟ قَالَ: نَعَمْ، كُنَّا مَعَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فِي سَفَرٍ فَبَيْنَا نَحْنُ عِنْدَهُ إِذْ نَادَاهُ أَعْرَابِيٌّ بِصَوْتٍ لَهُ جَهْوَرِيٍّ: يَا مُحَمَّدُ! فَأَجَابَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَى نَحْوٍ مِنْ صَوْتِهِ: «هَاؤُمُ۔» وَقُلْنَا لَهُ: وَيْحَكَ اغْضُضْ مِنْ صَوْتِكَ فَإِنَّكَ عِنْدَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَقَدْ نُهِيتَ عَنْ هَذَا۔ فَقَالَ: وَاللَّهِ لاَ أَغْضُضُ۔ قَالَ الأَعْرَابِيُّ: الْمَرْءُ يُحِبُّ الْقَوْمَ وَلَمَّا يَلْحَقْ بِهِمْ؟ قَالَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ: «الْمَرْءُ مَعَ مَنْ أَحَبَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ۔»

فَمَا زَالَ يُحَدِّثُنَا حَتَّى ذَكَرَ بَابًا مِنْ قِبَلِ الْمَغْرِبِ مَسِيرَةُ عَرْضِهِ أَوْ يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي عَرْضِهِ أَرْبَعِينَ أَوْ سَبْعِينَ عَامًا۔ قَالَ سُفْيَانُ: قِبَلَ الشَّامِ خَلَقَهُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ مَفْتُوحًا - يَعْنِي لِلتَّوْبَةِ - لاَ يُغْلَقُ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْهُ۔