Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3449
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ، حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ، أَنْبَأَنَا إِسْرَائِيلُ، عَنْ مَنْصُورٍ، عَنْ خَالِدِ بْنِ سَعْدٍ، قَالَ خَرَجْنَا وَمَعَنَا غَالِبُ بْنُ أَبْجَرَ فَمَرِضَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَقَدِمْنَا الْمَدِينَةَ وَهُوَ مَرِيضٌ فَعَادَهُ ابْنُ أَبِي عَتِيقٍ وَقَالَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذِهِ الْحَبَّةِ السَّوْدَاءِ فَخُذُوا مِنْهَا خَمْسًا أَوْ سَبْعًا فَاسْحَقُوهَا ثُمَّ اقْطُرُوهَا فِي أَنْفِهِ بِقَطَرَاتِ زَيْتٍ فِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ وَفِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ فَإِنَّ عَائِشَةَ حَدَّثَتْهُمْ أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْحَبَّةَ السَّوْدَاءَ شِفَاءٌ مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ السَّامُ " . قُلْتُ وَمَا السَّامُ قَالَ " الْمَوْتُ " .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Khālid ibn Saʿd reported: We set out with Ghālib ibn Abjar, and he fell ill on the road. We reached Medina while he was still ill. Ibn Abī ʿAtīq visited him and said to us, ‘Use this black seed. Take five or seven of them, crush them, then put drops of them in his nose, together with drops of oil, on this side and on this side. ʿĀʾishah told them that she had heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “This black seed is a cure for every disease, except when the disease is death.”’ I asked, ‘What is al-sām?’ He replied, ‘Death.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The dosage is given as ‘five or seven’ seeds; the report does not specify units or explain the alternative number.
The remedy instructions mention crushed black seed and oil drops administered in the nose, on both sides.
The report explicitly explains al-sām as death.
قَالَ خَرَجْنَا وَمَعَنَا غَالِبُ بْنُ أَبْجَرَ فَمَرِضَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَقَدِمْنَا الْمَدِينَةَ وَهُوَ مَرِيضٌ فَعَادَهُ ابْنُ أَبِي عَتِيقٍ وَقَالَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذِهِ الْحَبَّةِ السَّوْدَاءِ فَخُذُوا مِنْهَا خَمْسًا أَوْ سَبْعًا فَاسْحَقُوهَا ثُمَّ اقْطُرُوهَا فِي أَنْفِهِ بِقَطَرَاتِ زَيْتٍ فِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ وَفِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ فَإِنَّ عَائِشَةَ حَدَّثَتْهُمْ أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْحَبَّةَ السَّوْدَاءَ شِفَاءٌ مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ السَّامُ " .
The instruction says to take five or seven seeds but does not state a unit of measure or why either number is given.
Are five and seven alternative counts of seeds, or do they refer to another measure?
قَالَ خَرَجْنَا وَمَعَنَا غَالِبُ بْنُ أَبْجَرَ فَمَرِضَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ فَقَدِمْنَا الْمَدِينَةَ وَهُوَ مَرِيضٌ فَعَادَهُ ابْنُ أَبِي عَتِيقٍ وَقَالَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذِهِ الْحَبَّةِ السَّوْدَاءِ فَخُذُوا مِنْهَا خَمْسًا أَوْ سَبْعًا فَاسْحَقُوهَا ثُمَّ اقْطُرُوهَا فِي أَنْفِهِ بِقَطَرَاتِ زَيْتٍ فِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ وَفِي هَذَا الْجَانِبِ فَإِنَّ عَائِشَةَ حَدَّثَتْهُمْ أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " إِنَّ هَذِهِ الْحَبَّةَ السَّوْدَاءَ شِفَاءٌ مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَكُونَ السَّامُ " .
The wording mentions drops of crushed seed and drops of oil for the two sides of the nose, but the exact mixture and sequence are not detailed.
Are the seed and oil drops mixed together before being placed in each nostril?