Hadeeth about the man who will be commanded to be taken to Hell, but he will turn to his Lord hoping that He would admit him to Paradise, and He will admit him to Paradise
Question

                How sound is this hadeeth: “A man will be headed towards Hell on the Day of Resurrection, then he will turn around and Allah will say to him: Why have you turned around? And he will say, after Allah prompts him to give the answer that will save him: I was hoping that You will admit me to Paradise. And Allah will command that he be admitted to Paradise”?.
Praise be to Allah.
    This is the 
    meaning of a hadeeth that was narrated by Ibn al-Mubaarak in az-Zuhd 
    (409) and via him by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (22287) and by Ibn ‘Abi’d-Dunya 
    in Hasan az-Zann Billah (58). Ibn al-Mubaarak said: Rishdeen ibn Sa‘d 
    informed us: Abu Haani’ al-Khawlaani told us, from ‘Amr ibn Maalik al-Janbi, 
    that Faddalah ibn ‘Ubayd and ‘Ubaadah ibn as-Saamit told him that the 
    Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “On the 
    Day of Resurrection, when Allah, may He be exalted, has finished judging 
    mankind, there will be two men left who will be commanded to be taken into 
    Hell. One of them will turn around and the Compeller (Allah, may He be 
    exalted) will say: Send him back. And they will send him back. He will say 
    to him: Why did you turn around? He will say: I was hoping that You would 
    admit me to Paradise. And it will be commanded to take him to 
    Paradise. 
    He will say: Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has given me that 
    which, if I were to feed the people of Paradise, that would not detract at 
    all from what I have.” And whenever the Messenger of Allah (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) mentioned that, happiness could be seen on his 
    face. 

    Al-Haythami 
    said in al-Majma‘, 10/698 

    It was 
    narrated by Ahmad and its men were regarded as trustworthy despite the 
    weakness of some of them. End quote. 

    It narrators 
    are trustworthy except Rishdeen ibn Sa‘d who is da‘eef. See: Tahdheeb 
    at-Tahdheeb, 3/240241; Mizaan al-I‘tidaal, 2/49 

    A similar, 
    more sound and clearer hadeeth was narrated by Muslim in his Saheeh 
    (187) from ‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him), according 
    to which the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) 
    said: 

    “The last one 
    to enter Paradise will be a man who will walk once, stumble once and be 
    burned by the Fire once. When he gets past it, he will turn to it and say, 
    ‘Blessed be the One Who has saved me from you. Allaah has given me something 
    that He has not given to the first and the last.’ A tree will be raised up 
    for him, and he will say, ‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I 
    might shelter in its shade and drink of its water.’ Allaah, may He be 
    glorified and exalted, will say: ‘O son of Adam, perhaps if I give you that, 
    you will ask Me for something else.’ He will say, ‘No, O Lord,’ and he will 
    promise that he will not ask Him for anything else, and his Lord will excuse 
    him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. So he will be 
    brought near to it and he will shelter in its shade and drink of its water. 
    Then another tree will be raised up for him that is more beautiful than the 
    first, and he will say: ‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I 
    might drink of its water and shelter in its shade, and I will not ask You 
    for anything else.’  He will say: ‘O son of Adam, did you not promise Me 
    that you would not ask Me for anything else?’ He will say: ‘Perhaps if I 
    bring you near to it, you will ask Me for something else.’ He will promise 
    that he will not ask Him for anything else, and his Lord will excuse him 
    because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. So he will be 
    brought near to it and he will shelter in its shade and drink of its water. 
    Then another tree will be raised up for him at the gate of Paradise that is 
    more beautiful than the first two, and he will say: ‘O Lord, bring me closer 
    to this tree so that I might shelter in its shade and drink of its water, 
    and I will not ask You for anything else.’  He will say: ‘O son of Adam, did 
    you not promise Me that you would not ask Me for anything else?’ he will 
    say, ‘No, O Lord, I will not ask You for anything else.’ His Lord will 
    excuse him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. He 
    will be brought close to it, and when he draws close to it, he will hear the 
    voices of the people of 
    Paradise 
    and will say, ‘O Lord, admit me therein.’ He will say: ‘O son of Adam, what 
    will make you stop asking? Will it please you if I give you the world and as 
    much again?’ He will say: ‘O Lord, are You making fun of me when You are the 
    Lord of the Worlds?’” 

    Ibn Mas’ood 
    smiled and said: Why don’t you ask me why I am smiling? They said: Why are 
    you smiling? He said: This is how the Messenger of Allaah (blessings and 
    peace of Allah be upon him) smiled and they said: Why are you smiling, O 
    Messenger of Allaah? He said: “Because the Lord of the Worlds will smile 
    when he says, ‘are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the 
    Worlds?’ and will say: ‘I am not making fun of you, but I am Able to do 
    whatever I will.’” 

    And Allah knows best.