حَدَّثَنَا حُسَيْنُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ يَعْنِي ابْنَ حَازِمٍ عَنْ كُلْثُومِ بْنِ جَبْرٍ عَنْ سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ الْمِيثَاقَ مِنْ ظَهْرِ آدَمَ بِنَعْمَانَ يَعْنِي عَرَفَةَ فَأَخْرَجَ مِنْ صُلْبِهِ كُلَّ ذُرِّيَّةٍ ذَرَأَهَا فَنَثَرَهُمْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ كَالذَّرِّ ثُمَّ كَلَّمَهُمْ قِبَلًا قَالَ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَنْ تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 2455
It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas (RA) that the Prophet (PBUH) said: Allah took the covenant from the loins of Adam in Na'man - i.e., 'Arafah. He brought forth from his loins every offspring He created, then He spread them before Him like ants, then He spoke to them face to face and said; "And (remember) when your Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed (or from Adam's loins his offspring) and made them testify as to themselves (saying): 'Am I not your Lord?' They said: 'Yes! We testify/ lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: 'Verily, we have been unaware of this.' Or lest you should say: 'It was only our fathers aforetime who took others as partners in worship along with Allah, and we were (merely their) descendants after them; will You then destroy us because of the deeds of men who practised Al-Batil (i.e. polytheism and committing crimes and sins, invoking and worshipping others besides Allah)?"'
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020