Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 379
حَدَّثَنَا إِسْمَاعِيلُ قَالَ: حَدَّثَنِي مَالِكٌ، عَنْ نَافِعٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: عُذِّبَتِ امْرَأَةٌ فِي هِرَّةٍ حَبَسَتْهَا حَتَّى مَاتَتْ جُوعًا، فَدَخَلَتِ فِيهَا النَّارَ، يُقَالُ، وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ: لاَ أَنْتِ أَطْعَمْتِيهَا، وَلاَ سَقِيتِيهَا حِينَ حَبَسْتِيهَا، وَلاَ أَنْتِ أَرْسَلْتِيهَا، فَأَكَلَتْ مِنْ خَشَاشِ الأَرْضِ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: A woman was punished because of a cat she had imprisoned until it died of hunger, and she entered the Fire on its account. It was said—and Allah knows best—‘You neither fed it nor gave it water while you kept it confined, nor did you release it so that it could eat the small creatures of the earth.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic closes with خشاش الأرض, small creatures or vermin of the earth; the English witness says ‘plants of the earth.’
فَأَكَلَتْ مِنْ خَشَاشِ الأَرْضِ.
The Arabic خشاش الأرض refers to small creatures or vermin of the earth rather than plants.
Should the final phrase follow the Arabic sense ‘small creatures of the earth’ rather than the English witness’s ‘plants’?