It is related by Ibn ‘Abbas:
One day when Yahya ( عليه السلام) was four years old, a group of children called him to come and play with them by the river. He replied, “We are not sent here by our Lord to play” – and he turned away from them.
When Yahya ( عليه السلام) was a little older, he begged leave of his parents and went to seek the company of pious ascetics and homeless dervishes and learned their way. He was of an extremely severe and self-denying disposition, and was given to weeping much. In fact, he wept so much that his tears left marks like grooves upon his cheeks, and their bitterness wore the flesh of his cheeks so thin that his teeth could be seen shining through.
One day Zakariya ( عليه السلام) was preaching in the temple at Jerusalem. He looked about the audience to see whether his son Yahya ( عليه السلام) was among them, for if he knew he was present, he would speak about the pleasures of Paradise; if he were not there, he would speak of the terrors of Hell. Yahya ( عليه السلام), however, was still small and sat among the congregation with his head bowed to his knees, so his father didn’t spot him. He began to speak about Hell. “The Angel Jibril informs me,” he began, “that in Hell there is a mountain called Saqran; on that mountain, there is a valley by name Ghadban (literally: anger, wrath). This is the dwelling place of those who have incurred Divine Wrath. In this valley, there are seventy pits of fire; the depth of each measuring 200 years’ travel. In each of these pits, there are separate compartments of fire, in which the sinners lie chained with fiery shackles.” Hearing these words, Yahya ( عليه السلام) suddenly let out a cry, “Ah, woe for Saqran and woe for Ghadban” and he rose and left the assembly. He wandered off into the mountains in a disturbed frame of mind and was nowhere to be found. Worried for his safety, his father and mother went out to look for him, and at length, they met a shepherd. “Have you not seen a young man in these parts, who is weeping as if his heart would break?” they asked him. “Yes,” answered the shepherd, “I have seen such a young man pass by here. He refuses to eat or drink until he knows whether his place is in Heaven or in Hell.” He directed them towards the way he had gone, and after a while, they came across Yahya ( عليه السلام), weeping from fear of God. His mother spoke to him. “By the right of the womb that bore thee and the paps that gave thee suck, my son, I bid thee eat of this barley bread and come with us, your parents, this very night.” Yahya ( عليه السلام) could not refuse his obedience to such a request, and he followed them home, weeping still.
When they reached the house, Zakariya ( عليه السلام) said to his son, “Here, take my robe and warm yourself with it, for you have been out in the cold for a long time.” His mother meanwhile prepared a lentil soup and served it to her son, and he ate. After eating, Yahya ( عليه السلام) fell into a deep sleep. He slept so deeply from exhaustion that the morning prayer passed, and he didn’t rise for its observance, nor did his parents wake him. In the morning, he saw a dream. A voice from the Unseen called to him, saying, “Oh Yahya, have you found a house better than My House, and have you found neighbors better than Me? By My Glory and Majesty, I say to you, O Yahya, had you beheld even a glimpse of Paradise, your flesh would melt away from yearning for it, and had you but seen Hell, your flesh would shrivel, and your tears would turn to blood and putrid water from its terror.” Yahya ( عليه السلام) awoke from his dream with a start, saw that it was morning, and wept so long and bitterly that the angels of all the seven heavens wept with him. Then he said to his parents, “Give me my old woollen cloak, and take back your fine, warm robe, for this is not my place to stay.” And he returned to the wilderness where he spent many days weeping.
Shaytan, the accursed, once was asked, “Was there never anything that made you happy?” “Oh yes,” he replied, “once I was happy: when Yahya failed to rise for the morning prayer, having fallen into deep sleep after eating his fill.” “And was there ever anything you were unhappy about?” he was asked. “When I saw all the angels of the seven heavens weep with him for having missed that prayer, then I became very sorry for not having woken him up myself.”
Zakariya ( عليه السلام) exhorted his son one day and asked him, “Oh Yahya, my son, why is it that you weep so overly much?” Yahya ( عليه السلام) replied, “My father, have I not heard you say that the terrible fires of Hell that you have described so often are extinguished only by the tears that fall from a believer’s eyes? Why then would you prevent me from putting out that fire with my own tears?” Zakariya ( عليه السلام) was shaken and said, “O my son, you are right. Regarding the fierce and awesome Majesty of the Lord you have every right to weep, as it is written:
Therefore let them laugh little, and weep much, in recompense for what they have been earning. (Surah At-Tawbah 9:82)
As Isa ( عليه السلام) was learned in the Torah, Yahya ( عليه السلام) took lessons from him. One day Isa ( عليه السلام) asked him, “Oh my friend, you always seem gloomy and depressed; do you then despair of the Mercy of Allah?” Yahya ( عليه السلام) answered, “And you, Isa ( عليه السلام), are always smiling and seem so full of cheer; do you feel safe from the Wrath and Terror of the Lord?” Allah then sent a revelation, saying, “My prophet Isa is right, because I have said, ‘My Mercy overcomes My Wrath.’”
Excerpted from Lore of Light Vol. 3 page, 213.
