Sunan Ibn Majah
Sunan Ibn Majah 3457
حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ يُوسُفَ بْنِ سَرْجٍ الْفِرْيَابِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا عَمْرُو بْنُ بَكْرٍ السَّكْسَكِيُّ، حَدَّثَنَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ أَبِي عَبْلَةَ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَبَا أُبَىٍّ ابْنَ أُمِّ حَرَامٍ، وَكَانَ، قَدْ صَلَّى مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ الْقِبْلَتَيْنِ يَقُولُ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ يَقُولُ " عَلَيْكُمْ بِالسَّنَى وَالسَّنُّوتِ فَإِنَّ فِيهِمَا شِفَاءً مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلاَّ السَّامَ . قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا السَّامُ قَالَ " الْمَوْتُ " . قَالَ عَمْرٌو قَالَ ابْنُ أَبِي عَبْلَةَ السَّنُّوتُ الشِّبِتُّ . وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ بَلْ هُوَ الْعَسَلُ الَّذِي يَكُونُ فِي زِقَاقِ السَّمْنِ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الشَّاعِرِ هُمُ السَّمْنُ بِالسَّنُّوتِ لاَ أَلْسَ فِيهِمُ وَهُمْ يَمْنَعُونَ جَارَهُمْ أَنْ يُقَرَّدَا
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abū Ubayy ibn Umm Ḥarām—who had prayed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ facing both qiblas—reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘Take senna and sannūt, for in them there is a cure for every disease except death.’ They asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, what is al-sām?’ He replied, ‘Death.’
ʿAmr said: Ibn Abī ʿAblah said that sannūt is dill. Others said that it is honey found in skins of ghee. This is supported by the poet’s saying: ‘They are ghee with sannūt; there is no deceit among them, and they protect their neighbor from being infested with ticks.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report gives two explanations for sannūt: Ibn Abī ʿAblah identifies it as dill, while others identify it as honey found in skins containing ghee.
The closing verse is cited as evidence for the second explanation. Its final phrase literally refers to protecting a neighbor from being qarrad, an obscure term translated tentatively as being infested with ticks.
Al-sām is explicitly glossed in the report as death.
قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا السَّامُ قَالَ " الْمَوْتُ " .
Sannūt is identified differently in the report: Ibn Abī ʿAblah says it is dill, while others say it is honey found in skins of ghee.
Which of the two reported meanings of sannūt is intended in the main saying?
وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ بَلْ هُوَ الْعَسَلُ الَّذِي يَكُونُ فِي زِقَاقِ السَّمْنِ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الشَّاعِرِ هُمُ السَّمْنُ بِالسَّنُّوتِ لاَ أَلْسَ فِيهِمُ وَهُمْ يَمْنَعُونَ جَارَهُمْ أَنْ يُقَرَّدَا
The cited verse’s final word (yuqarradā) is obscure; the literal image may concern ticks or another form of infestation, and the report gives no gloss.
What does the poem mean by protecting a neighbor from being yuqarrad?