Questioning in the Grave, Chastisement in the Grave, and Barzakh — Hadith 11

11. Al-Qāsim narrated from al-Ḥusayn ibn Ḥammād, from Yūnus ibn Ẓabyān who said, “I was with Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) and he asked me, ‘What do the people say about the souls of believers? ’ I replied, ‘They say that they are in the craws of green birds in lanterns under the Throne. ’ So Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) said, ‘Glory be to Allah! The believer is more honourable in the sight of Allah than His placing his soul in the craw of a green bird, O Yūnus! When the time [of a believer’s death] approaches, Muḥammad(ṣ), ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, and the close archangels (peace be upon them all) come to him. And when Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, takes his soul, He places that soul in a form similar to its form in the world; so they subsist, eating and drinking [in that realm as well]. Then, when someone [who has just died] comes to them, they recognize him by the appearance that he had in the world. ’”