Jami' at-Tirmidhi
Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1859
حَدَّثَنَا أَحْمَدُ بْنُ مَنِيعٍ، حَدَّثَنَا يَعْقُوبُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ الْمَدَنِيُّ، عَنِ ابْنِ أَبِي ذِئْبٍ، عَنِ الْمَقْبُرِيِّ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ حَسَّاسٌ لَحَّاسٌ فَاحْذَرُوهُ عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ مَنْ بَاتَ وَفِي يَدِهِ رِيحُ غَمَرٍ فَأَصَابَهُ شَيْءٌ فَلاَ يَلُومَنَّ إِلاَّ نَفْسَهُ " . قَالَ أَبُو عِيسَى هَذَا حَدِيثٌ غَرِيبٌ مِنْ هَذَا الْوَجْهِ . وَقَدْ رُوِيَ مِنْ حَدِيثِ سُهَيْلِ بْنِ أَبِي صَالِحٍ عَنْ أَبِيهِ عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ahmad ibn Mani‘ narrated to us: Ya‘qub ibn al-Walid al-Madani narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Dhi’b, from al-Maqburi, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Satan is keenly sniffing and licking, so beware of him around yourselves. Whoever spends the night with the smell of fat on his hand, then something befalls him, let him blame no one but himself.”
Abu ‘Isa said: This hadith is gharīb by this route. It has also been transmitted in the report of Suhayl ibn Abi Salih, from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The paired epithets حسّاس لحّاس are unusual and sound-played; rendered literally and cautiously as ‘keenly sniffing and licking.’ غمر refers to a lingering smell of fat or food on the hand. The English witness’s ‘has a sense of taste, for which he licks’ interprets the phrase more freely.
قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم " إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ حَسَّاسٌ لَحَّاسٌ فَاحْذَرُوهُ عَلَى أَنْفُسِكُمْ مَنْ بَاتَ وَفِي يَدِهِ رِيحُ غَمَرٍ فَأَصَابَهُ شَيْءٌ فَلاَ يَلُومَنَّ إِلاَّ نَفْسَهُ " .
The paired epithets حسّاس لحّاس are unusual and their precise force is uncertain.
Is ‘keenly sniffing and licking’ an appropriate cautious rendering of these rhyming descriptors?