Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2137
حَدَّثَنَا هَنَّادٌ، حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُعَاوِيَةَ، قَالَ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ زَيْدِ بْنِ وَهْبٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهُوَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ " إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ فِي أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ الْمَلَكَ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعٍ يَكْتُبُ رِزْقَهُ وَأَجَلَهُ وَعَمَلَهُ وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ فَوَالَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ غَيْرُهُ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ ثُمَّ يَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيُخْتَمُ لَهُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ ثُمَّ يَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيُخْتَمُ لَهُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى وَهَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ . حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ بَشَّارٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا الأَعْمَشُ، حَدَّثَنَا زَيْدُ بْنُ وَهْبٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَذَكَرَ مِثْلَهُ . وَهَذَا حَدِيثٌ حَسَنٌ صَحِيحٌ . وَقَدْ رَوَى شُعْبَةُ وَالثَّوْرِيُّ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ نَحْوَهُ . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى وَفِي الْبَابِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ وَأَنَسٍ . وَسَمِعْتُ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ حَنْبَلٍ يَقُولُ مَا رَأَيْتُ بِعَيْنِي مِثْلَ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْقَطَّانِ و هذا حديث حسن صحيح. وقد روى شعبة والثوري عن عن الأعمش نحوه. حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْعَلاَءِ، حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ زَيْدٍ، نَحْوَهُ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Hannad narrated to us: Abu Mu‘awiyah narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Zayd ibn Wahb, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the truthful and confirmed one, narrated to us: ‘The creation of each of you is gathered in his mother’s womb for forty days; then he becomes a clot for a like period; then a morsel of flesh for a like period. Then Allah sends an angel to him, who breathes into him, and is commanded regarding four matters: to write his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be wretched or felicitous. By the One besides whom there is no deity, one of you may perform the deeds of the people of Paradise until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then the decree overtakes him, he is sealed with the deeds of the people of the Fire, and enters it. And one of you may perform the deeds of the people of the Fire until only an arm’s length remains between him and it, then the decree overtakes him, he is sealed with the deeds of the people of Paradise, and enters it.’ Abu ‘Isa said: This is a hasan sahih hadith. Muhammad ibn Bashshar narrated to us: Yahya ibn Sa‘id narrated to us: al-A‘mash narrated to us: Zayd ibn Wahb narrated to us, from ‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, who said that the Messenger of Allah narrated the like of it. This is a hasan sahih hadith. Shu‘bah and al-Thawri also narrated something similar from al-A‘mash. Abu ‘Isa said: There are reports on this topic from Abu Hurayrah and Anas. I heard Ahmad ibn al-Hasan say: I heard Ahmad ibn Hanbal say, ‘I have never seen with my own eyes anyone like Yahya ibn Sa‘id al-Qattan.’ The Arabic source then repeats, in unvocalized text, ‘This is a hasan sahih hadith. Shu‘bah and al-Thawri narrated something similar from al-A‘mash,’ with a duplicated preposition in that repeated phrase. Muhammad ibn al-‘Ala’ narrated to us: Waki‘ narrated to us, from al-A‘mash, from Zayd, something similar.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic source contains a repeated, unvocalized fragment after Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s praise of Yahya al-Qattan; it repeats the hasan-sahih grading and the Shu‘bah/al-Thawri parallel, and has a duplicated preposition. This textual anomaly is rendered and separately flagged rather than silently removed. The Arabic also presents three transmission blocks in one source unit.
The womb-development periods are forty days each in the source’s wording; ‘alaqah and mudghah are rendered as clot and morsel of flesh.
The expression ‘the truthful and confirmed one’ is a conventional description of the Prophet in this report.
وَسَمِعْتُ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ الْحَسَنِ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ أَحْمَدَ بْنَ حَنْبَلٍ يَقُولُ مَا رَأَيْتُ بِعَيْنِي مِثْلَ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ الْقَطَّانِ و هذا حديث حسن صحيح.
The Arabic source concatenates an unvocalized duplicate of the hasan-sahih and Shu‘bah/al-Thawri report fragment into the passage after Ahmad ibn Hanbal’s quotation, including a duplicated preposition; the boundary may reflect a source extraction artifact.
Should this repeated fragment remain attached to this passage, as translated here, or be treated as a source-boundary artifact in a later editorial pass?
قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم وَهُوَ الصَّادِقُ الْمَصْدُوقُ " إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ يُجْمَعُ خَلْقُهُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ فِي أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ عَلَقَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يَكُونُ مُضْغَةً مِثْلَ ذَلِكَ ثُمَّ يُرْسِلُ اللَّهُ إِلَيْهِ الْمَلَكَ فَيَنْفُخُ فِيهِ وَيُؤْمَرُ بِأَرْبَعٍ يَكْتُبُ رِزْقَهُ وَأَجَلَهُ وَعَمَلَهُ وَشَقِيٌّ أَوْ سَعِيدٌ فَوَالَّذِي لاَ إِلَهَ غَيْرُهُ إِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ ثُمَّ يَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيُخْتَمُ لَهُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا وَإِنَّ أَحَدَكُمْ لَيَعْمَلُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ حَتَّى مَا يَكُونُ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَهَا إِلاَّ ذِرَاعٌ ثُمَّ يَسْبِقُ عَلَيْهِ الْكِتَابُ فَيُخْتَمُ لَهُ بِعَمَلِ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ فَيَدْخُلُهَا " .
The English witness covers the principal report and only says another chain reports similarly; the Arabic includes additional grading, cross-references, a quotation from Ahmad ibn Hanbal, a repeated fragment, and a third chain.
Retain all Arabic-only transmission and commentary material.