(51) Chapter: Hope in Allah's Mercy

'Umar bin Al-Khattab (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Some prisoners were brought to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) amongst whom there was a woman who was running (searching for her child). When she saw a child among the captives, she took hold of it, pressed it against her belly and gave it a suck. Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Do you think this woman would ever throw her child in fire?" We said, "By Allah, she would never throw the child in fire." Thereupon Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Allah is more kind to his slave than this woman is to her child".

[Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

Commentary: Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar states that the Musnad Ismai`li has the following additional words in the narrative: "After continuous search, she finally found her baby. She took the baby and hugged him". It is permissible to illustrate by example what one cannot make others understand by means of reason and senses, the way the Prophet (PBUH) did it in the present case. Since it was not possible to describe the immensity of Allah's Mercy, he cited the example of that woman to illustrate his point.