Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 4935
حَدَّثَنِي مُحَمَّدٌ، أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " مَا بَيْنَ النَّفْخَتَيْنِ أَرْبَعُونَ ". قَالَ أَرْبَعُونَ يَوْمًا قَالَ أَبَيْتُ. قَالَ أَرْبَعُونَ شَهْرًا قَالَ أَبَيْتُ. قَالَ أَرْبَعُونَ سَنَةً قَالَ أَبَيْتُ. قَالَ " ثُمَّ يُنْزِلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً. فَيَنْبُتُونَ كَمَا يَنْبُتُ الْبَقْلُ لَيْسَ مِنَ الإِنْسَانِ شَىْءٌ إِلاَّ يَبْلَى إِلاَّ عَظْمًا وَاحِدًا وَهْوَ عَجْبُ الذَّنَبِ، وَمِنْهُ يُرَكَّبُ الْخَلْقُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ".
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Muhammad related to me; Abu Muawiya informed us, from al-Amash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, ‘Between the two blasts there will be forty.’ He was asked, ‘Forty days?’ He replied, ‘I refuse to say.’ He was asked, ‘Forty months?’ He replied, ‘I refuse to say.’ He was asked, ‘Forty years?’ He replied, ‘I refuse to say.’ Then he said: Allah will send down water from the sky, and they will grow as vegetation grows. Nothing of the human being will decay except one bone, the coccyx; from it the creation will be assembled on the Day of Resurrection.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic leaves the unit of ‘forty’ unspecified; the narrator reports refusing to identify whether it means days, months, or years.
مَا بَيْنَ النَّفْخَتَيْنِ أَرْبَعُونَ
The report states ‘forty’ without naming a unit, and the following questions are each declined.
Should the unspecified duration remain unqualified?