Jami' at-Tirmidhi
The Book on the Description of Hellfire
كتاب صفة جهنم عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم
Chapter 1
مَا جَاءَ فِي صِفَةِ النَّارِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘On that Day, Hell will be brought forward with seventy thousand reins, each drawn by seventy thousand angels.’ ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman said: ‘Al-Thawri did not attribute it to the Prophet.’ ‘Abd ibn Humayd narrated it through ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Amr Abu ‘Amir al-‘Aqadi, from Sufyan, from al-‘Ala ibn Khalid, with this chain and similar wording, but did not attribute it to the Prophet (mawquf).
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic calls them reins (زمام), not handles as in the English witness. The source preserves a transmission distinction: al-Thawri did not raise the report to the Prophet, and the alternate chain likewise gives it without Prophetic attribution.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘A neck will emerge from the Fire on the Day of Resurrection. It will have two eyes that see, two ears that hear, and a tongue that speaks. It will say, “I have been assigned to deal with three: every stubborn tyrant, everyone who calls upon another deity alongside Allah, and those who make images.”’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan gharīb sahih.’ A report on this topic is also related from Abu Sa‘id. Some narrators transmitted a similar report through al-A‘mash, from ‘Atiyyah, from Abu Sa‘id, from the Prophet; and Ash‘ath ibn Sawwar narrated a similar report through ‘Atiyyah, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, from the Prophet.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic says ‘a neck’ (عنق) will emerge from the Fire; it does not call it a piece of the Fire shaped like a long neck. The source identifies the three categories and gives the report’s grading and variant routes through Abu Sa‘id.
Chapter 2
مَا جَاءَ فِي صِفَةِ قَعْرِ جَهَنَّمَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Al-Hasan said: ‘While on this pulpit of ours—the pulpit of Basra—‘Utbah ibn Ghazwan said, reporting from the Prophet: “A huge rock will be thrown from the edge of Hell and will fall into it for seventy years without reaching its bottom.”’ He also said: ‘“Remember the Fire often, for its heat is intense, its bottom is far away, and its iron hooks are fearsome.”’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘We do not know that al-Hasan heard from ‘Utbah ibn Ghazwan. ‘Utbah came to Basra during ‘Umar’s time, and al-Hasan was born with two years remaining in ‘Umar’s caliphate.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source ends with a note that al-Hasan’s hearing from ‘Utbah is unestablished; this chain caveat is included. The Arabic says iron maqaami‘ (clubs/hooks), not whips, and does not give a sahih grade despite that label in the English witness.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘Al-Sa‘ud is a mountain of fire. The disbeliever will climb it for seventy years, then fall down it for the same length of time, forever.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is gharīb; we know it as a Prophetic report only through the narration of Ibn Lahi‘ah.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source calls al-Sa‘ud a mountain of fire and says the ascent and descent each last seventy years, continuing forever. It grades the report gharīb and identifies Ibn Lahi‘ah as the sole known marfu‘ route; the English witness adds a ‘Da‘if’ label not present in the Arabic text.
Chapter 3
مَا جَاءَ فِي عِظَمِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: ‘The disbeliever’s skin will be forty-two cubits thick, his molar tooth will be like Mount Uhud, and his place in Hell will be as vast as the distance between Makkah and Madinah.’ This hadith is hasan sahih gharīb through al-A‘mash.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses dhirā‘ (cubits/forearm lengths) for the skin’s thickness and describes the person’s place in Hell by comparison with the distance between Makkah and Madinah.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘On the Day of Resurrection, the disbeliever’s molar tooth will be like Mount Uhud, his thigh like al-Bayda, and his seat in the Fire will be a journey of three, like al-Rabadha.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan gharīb.’ He explained that ‘like al-Rabadha’ means the distance between Madinah and al-Rabadha, and that al-Bayda is a mountain like Uhud.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives al-Bayda as a mountain like Uhud and glosses al-Rabadha as the distance from Madinah. ‘A journey of three’ is left without supplying a unit, which the Arabic does not specify in this wording.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported from the Prophet: ‘The disbeliever’s molar tooth will be like Mount Uhud.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan.’ Abu Hazim was al-Ashja‘i; his name was Salman, the freedman of ‘Azzah al-Ashja‘iyyah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source adds the transmitter’s identification, which is absent from the English witness.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The disbeliever’s tongue will be stretched out for a farsakh or two farsakhs, and people will walk over it.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is gharīb; we know it only through this route. Al-Fadl ibn Yazid was from Kufa, and more than one of the imams narrated from him. Abu al-Mukhariq is unknown.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source explicitly notes the unknown status of Abu al-Mukhariq and the report’s single known route. A farsakh is a long-distance measure; the unit is retained rather than converted.
Chapter 4
مَا جَاءَ فِي صِفَةِ شَرَابِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id reported from the Prophet, explaining the words ‘like molten brass’: ‘Like the dregs of oil; when it is brought near his face, the skin of his face will fall into it.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘We know this hadith only through the narration of Rushdayn ibn Sa‘d. Rushdayn has been criticized for his retention.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The report glosses the Quranic phrase كالمهل as the dregs of oil and describes the skin of the face falling into it. Abu ‘Isa states the sole known route and the narrator’s weakness in retention; no explicit formal grade appears in this source text.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: ‘Scalding water will be poured over their heads. It will penetrate until it reaches their insides and dissolves what is within, until it comes out through their feet. This is the melting; then they will be restored as they were.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan sahih gharīb.’ Sa‘id ibn Yazid was known by the teknonym Abu Shuja‘, was Egyptian, and al-Layth ibn Sa‘d narrated from him. Ibn Hujayrah was the Egyptian ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Hujayrah.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic explains al-sahr as melting/dissolution and says the water exits through the feet before the person is restored. The source includes the narrator biographies and grading, which the English witness omits.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Umamah reported from the Prophet, explaining the words ‘He will be given water of pus to drink, gulping it down’: ‘It will be brought toward his mouth, and he will loathe it. When it is brought close, it will scorch his face and the skin of his scalp will fall into it. When he drinks it, it will cut up his intestines until it comes out through his anus.’ Allah says: ‘They will be given boiling water to drink that cuts up their intestines,’ and He says: ‘If they cry for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten brass that scorches faces—an evil drink.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is gharīb. Muhammad ibn Isma‘il likewise reported it from ‘Ubaydullah ibn Busr. We know ‘Ubaydullah ibn Busr only through this hadith. Safwan ibn ‘Amr also narrated other reports from ‘Abdullah ibn Busr, a Companion of the Prophet. ‘Abdullah had a brother who heard from the Prophet, and his sister also heard from the Prophet. The ‘Ubaydullah ibn Busr from whom Safwan narrated the hadith of Abu Umamah may perhaps have been ‘Abdullah’s brother.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source distinguishes ‘Ubaydullah ibn Busr from the Companion ‘Abdullah ibn Busr and only tentatively suggests they were brothers. The citations are rendered in English; ‘water of pus’ translates sadid, while the second verse uses the image of water like molten brass (muhl).
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri reported from the Prophet, explaining ‘like molten brass’: ‘Like the dregs of oil; when it is brought near him, the skin of his face falls into it.’ With the same chain, the Prophet said: ‘The enclosure of the Fire has four walls, and the thickness of each wall is the distance of a forty-year journey.’ With the same chain, he said: ‘If a bucket of ghassaq were poured into this world, it would make the people of this world stink.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘We know this hadith only through the narration of Rushdayn ibn Sa‘d. Rushdayn has been criticized, particularly regarding his retention.’ He explained that ‘the thickness of each wall’ means its thickness.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source contains three reports under one chain; the English witness omits the report about the Fire’s four walls and labels the ghassaq report Da‘if, a grade absent from the Arabic here. Ghassaq is retained as a term for the foul fluid. The final gloss explains kithaf as thickness.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah recited the verse: ‘Be mindful of Allah as He deserves, and do not die except as Muslims.’ The Messenger of Allah then said: ‘If even a drop of zaqqum were to fall into the abode of this world, it would ruin the livelihood of its people; so what will it be like for one whose food it is?’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan sahih.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The hadith quotes the Quranic verse and then compares a single drop of zaqqum in this world with the plight of those for whom it is food.
Chapter 5
مَا جَاءَ فِي صِفَةِ طَعَامِ أَهْلِ النَّارِ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu al-Darda’ is reported to have said that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The people of the Fire will be afflicted with hunger, adding to the torment they are already in. They will cry for relief and be given food from dari, which neither nourishes nor relieves hunger. They will cry for food again and be given food that chokes. Remembering that they used to relieve choking in this world with drink, they will cry for drink. Scalding water will be brought up to them on iron hooks. When it nears their faces, it will scorch them; when it enters their bellies, it will cut up what is inside. They will say, “Call the keepers of Hell!” The keepers will say, “Did your messengers not come to you with clear proofs?” They will answer, “Yes.” The keepers will say, “Then call; the supplication of the disbelievers is only in vain.” They will say, “Call Malik!” and cry, “O Malik, let your Lord put an end to us!” He will answer, “You will remain.” Al-A‘mash said: “I was informed that a thousand years will pass between their calling and Malik’s reply.”
They will then say, “Call upon your Lord, for none is better than your Lord.” They will say, “Our Lord, our wretchedness overcame us, and we were a people astray. Our Lord, bring us out of it; if we return, then we will be wrongdoers.” He will answer, “Be cast away in it, and do not speak to Me.” At that, they will despair of all good and begin groaning, lamenting, and wailing in misery. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman said: ‘People do not attribute this report to the Prophet.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘We know this only as the statement of Abu al-Darda’, not as a Prophetic report.’ Qutbah ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz is considered trustworthy by hadith scholars.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source first presents a raised (marfu‘) wording, then explicitly says the known transmission is mawquf, stopping at Abu al-Darda’, and that people do not attribute it to the Prophet; both the text and this authenticity caveat are retained. ‘Dari’ is kept as the thorny food term. The thousand-year interval is reported by al-A‘mash as something he was informed of, not as part of a directly quoted Prophetic statement.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri reported that the Prophet said, explaining the words ‘and they will grimace therein’: ‘The Fire will scorch him, making his upper lip contract until it reaches the middle of his head, while his lower lip will hang down until it strikes his navel.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan sahih gharīb.’ Abu al-Haytham’s name was Sulayman ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Abd al-‘Utuwari; he was an orphan in the care of Abu Sa‘id.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source includes the hadith grading and identifies Abu al-Haytham and his upbringing; these are absent from the English witness.
Chapter 6
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘As reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘If a lead pellet the size of this’—and he gestured to something like a skull—‘were dropped from the sky to the earth, a journey of five hundred years away, it would reach the earth before nightfall. If it were dropped from the top of the chain, it would travel for forty years, day and night, before reaching its base or bottom.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘Its chain is hasan sahih.’ Sa‘id ibn Yazid was Egyptian; al-Layth ibn Sa‘d and more than one of the imams narrated from him.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source gives a comparison to a lead pellet and a skull-sized object, then distinguishes the five-hundred-year distance to earth from the forty-year fall from the top of the chain. The transmitter note and chain grading are included.
Chapter 7
مَا جَاءَ أَنَّ نَارَكُمْ هَذِهِ جُزْءٌ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنْ نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet said: ‘This fire of yours, which the children of Adam kindle, is one of seventy parts of the heat of Hell.’ They said, ‘By Allah, Messenger of Allah, this would be enough!’ He said, ‘It has been increased by sixty-nine parts, each of them equal to its heat.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan sahih.’ Hammam ibn Munabbih was the brother of Wahb ibn Munabbih, who narrated from him.
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source states that the worldly fire is one part out of seventy and that the remaining sixty-nine parts are each equal to its heat; it also identifies Hammam as Wahb’s brother.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Sa‘id reported that the Prophet said: ‘This fire of yours is one part out of seventy parts of the fire of Hell; each of its parts has heat like this one.’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is hasan gharīb in the narration of Abu Sa‘id.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
This is a separate wording from the preceding report; it has its own grading, hasan gharīb through Abu Sa‘id.
Chapter 8
مِنْهُ
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported from the Prophet: ‘The Fire was kindled for a thousand years until it became red. Then it was kindled for a thousand years until it became white. Then it was kindled for a thousand years until it became black; so it is black and dark.’ A similar report was narrated through Sharik, from ‘Asim, from Abu Salih—or another man—from Abu Hurairah, but without attributing it to the Prophet. Abu ‘Isa said: ‘The report from Abu Hurairah is more sound as a Companion statement (mawquf). I know of no one who attributed it to the Prophet except Yahya ibn Abi Bukayr, from Sharik.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source contrasts the marfu‘ wording with a similar mawquf version, and notes uncertainty whether the intermediary was Abu Salih or another man. Abu ‘Isa says the mawquf form is more sound; this transmission caveat is central to the report.
Chapter 9
مَا جَاءَ أَنَّ لِلنَّارِ نَفَسَيْنِ وَمَا ذُكِرَ مَنْ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ النَّارِ مِنْ أَهْلِ التَّوْحِيدِ .
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Abu Hurairah reported that the Messenger of Allah said: ‘The Fire complained to its Lord, saying, “Some parts of me consume others.” So He gave it two breaths: one in winter and one in summer. Its breath in winter is zamharir (bitter cold), and its breath in summer is samum (scorching heat).’ Abu ‘Isa said: ‘This hadith is sahih and has been narrated from Abu Hurairah from the Prophet through more than one route. Mufaddal ibn Salih, however, is not considered a particularly strong memorizer by hadith scholars.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source grades the report sahih and notes multiple routes, while separately commenting that Mufaddal ibn Salih was not strong in retention.