Book of the Description of the People of Hell

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) reports about the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said to Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him): "Why is it that I have never seen Mika'il laughing?" Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) replied: "Sayyiduna Mika'il (peace be upon him) has never laughed since Hell was created."
Ahmad recorded it as a narration of Isma'il bin Ayyash from the people of Madinah, and this narration is da'if (weak); the remaining narrators of this narration are thiqat (trustworthy). (Allamah Haythami says:) I say: The narration of Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) about the depth of Hell will come further on.

Sayyiduna Ya'la bin Umayyah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The sea is Hell." The people spoke to Sayyiduna Ya'la about this, and he said: "Have you not seen that Allah Almighty has said: 'A Fire (or Hell) whose walls will surround them'?" Sayyiduna Ya'la (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No, by the One in whose hand is the soul of Ya'la, I will never enter it (that is, the sea) until I am presented before Allah Almighty, and not a single drop of it will reach me until I appear before Allah Almighty (that is, I will not do so until my dying breath)."
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

Yazid bin Abi Sawrah says: I saw Sayyiduna Ubadah bin al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him); he was on the wall of the mosque at that time, with his chest resting on it, and he was weeping as he looked down towards the Valley of Jahannam (a place by that name). I said: "O Abu al-Walid, why are you weeping?" He said: "This is the place about which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told us that he (peace and blessings be upon him) saw Hell here."
Al-Tabarani recorded it. I do not know the narrator Yazid, and this narration contains weak narrators who have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Uqbah bin Amir al-Juhani (may Allah be pleased with him) says: We prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and he stood for a long time. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed, he would usually keep his standing short. During this prayer we heard him say: "O my Lord, and I am among them!" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) stretched out his blessed hand as though he wanted to take hold of something. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went into bowing, and after that he completed the prayer quickly. When he gave the salam and sat down, we too sat around him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I know that you were troubled by my long standing." We said: "Yes, and we heard you say: 'O my Lord, and I am among them!'" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "By the One in whose hand is my soul, everything you have been promised regarding the Hereafter was presented to me, even Hell was presented. Some of it came towards me until it was right opposite my place, and I feared that it might cover you. At that moment I said: 'O my Lord, and I am among them!' So Allah Almighty turned it away from you. A piece of it came that was like a carpet. I looked into it, and in it was Amr bin Hurthan of Banu Ghifar, leaning on his bow in Hell. And in it was also a woman of the tribe of Himyar who owned a cat. She had tied the cat up; she gave it nothing to eat or drink, nor did she let it loose so that it could eat something by itself, until the cat died in that state."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and the wording is his; part of this narration is mentioned in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir. Its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, and he is da'if (weak), though he has been declared trustworthy; the case of Bakr bin Sahl is the same, and the remaining narrators of this narration have been declared trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in a state of grief, not raising his head. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: "O Jibril, what is the matter? I see you grieving." He said: "I saw a blast of the heat of Hell, and since then my soul has not returned to me (that is, my distress has not left me since then)."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Ali bin Khalaf, and he is da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) at a time when he did not usually come. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rose and went towards him and asked: "O Jibril, what is the matter? I see that your colour has changed (that is, you look distressed)." Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) said: "I did not come to you until Allah Almighty gave the command concerning the keys of Hell." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Jibril, describe the Fire (or Hell) to me and portray Hell to me!" Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty gave the command concerning Hell, and it was kindled for a thousand years until it turned white. Then the command was given concerning it, and it was kindled for a further thousand years until it turned red. Then He gave the command concerning it, and it was kindled for a further thousand years until it turned black. So now it is black and dark; its sparks give no light and its flames do not die out. By the One who sent you with the truth, if an opening the size of the eye of a needle were made in Hell, everyone on the face of the earth would die from its heat. By the One who sent you with the truth, if one of the angels guarding Hell were to appear before the people of the world and they looked at him, everyone on the face of the earth would die from the hideousness of his face and the stench of his smell. By the One who sent you with the truth, if a single link of the chains of the people of Hell, which Allah Almighty has described in His Book, were placed on the mountains of the world, they would all be shaken from their places and none would stay firm, until they sank down to the lowest earth." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Jibril, that is enough for me, lest my heart burst and I die." The narrator says: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) looked at Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him), who was weeping. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "O Jibril, why are you weeping, when you hold a special station with Allah Almighty?" Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) said: "Why should I not weep? I am more deserving of weeping, for it may be that in Allah Almighty's knowledge my state is different from what it is now. I do not know; perhaps I will be put to the same kind of trial with which Iblis was tried, for he too was formerly among the angels. I do not know; perhaps I will be put to the same kind of trial with which Harut and Marut were tried." The narrator says: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to weep and Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) began to weep, and both of them kept weeping until a call came: "O Jibril and Muhammad, Allah Almighty has made you both safe from disobeying Him." Then Sayyiduna Jibril (peace be upon him) went up, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came out of the house. He passed by some people of the Ansar who were laughing and playing. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Are you laughing, when Hell lies ahead of you? If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much, you would not eat and drink your fill, and you would go out into the open wastelands seeking Allah's protection." Then a call came: "O Muhammad, do not make My servants despair! I have sent you to make things easy; I have not sent you to make things hard." Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said (to those people): "Keep to what is right and adopt moderation."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Sallam al-Tawil, and there is agreement on his being da'if (weak).

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a bucket of Hell were placed in the middle of the earth, its stench and the intensity of its heat would torment everyone between the East and the West. And if a single spark from the sparks of Hell were placed in the East, its heat would be felt in the West."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Tammam bin Najih, and he is da'if (weak), though he has been declared trustworthy; the narrators of this narration are in a better state than Tammam.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "This (that is, the fire of this world) is one part out of a hundred parts of Hell (that is, the fire of Hell is ninety-nine times more intense than the fire of this world)."
Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

It is reported from him (Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do you know what the likeness of this fire of yours is compared with the fire of Hell? It (the fire of Hell) has smoke seventy times blacker than this fire of yours."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) reports from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that, while mentioning Hell, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This (that is, the fire of this world) is one part out of seventy parts of the fire of Hell, and this (fire) reached you only after it was sprinkled twice with water so that it would give you light, whereas the fire of Hell is black and dark."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its narrators are da'if (weak), although among them are some who have been given a weak declaration of trustworthiness.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Good dreams are glad tidings, and they are one part out of seventy parts of prophethood. And your fire (that is, this fire of the world) is one part out of seventy parts of the fire of Hell. And as long as a servant keeps waiting for the prayer, he is counted as being in prayer, so long as he does not break his ablution (hadath)."
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ubays bin Ishaq al-Attar, and he is matruk (abandoned), though Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy; the remaining narrators of this narration are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The intensity of the heat is from the fierce breath of Hell, so delay the prayer until it is cooler! (The narrator says: that is, do so when the heat is intense.) Hell complained to its Lord, saying: 'O my Lord, one part of me devours another.' So the Lord permitted it to take two breaths every year: one of its breaths is in winter, in the form of intense cold, and one breath is in summer, in the form of intense heat." (Allamah Haythami says:) I say:
This narration is mentioned in the Sahih and other books in abridged form, without the mention of Hell's complaint.
Al-Bazzar recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Atiyyah, who has been declared trustworthy despite the weakness in him.

Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Hell complained to its Lord, saying: 'One part of me devours another.' So the Lord appointed two breaths for it: one of its breaths is in summer and one breath is in winter. Because of its heat you experience intense heat, and because of its cold you experience intense cold."
Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains a narrator, Ziyad al-Numayri, and he is da'if (weak) according to the majority.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Hell said: 'O my Lord, permit me to take a breath, for I fear that I will seize Your creation.' So the Lord permitted it to breathe twice every year. The intensity of the heat is from its scorching heat, and the intensity of the cold is from its cold."
Al-Bazzar recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih.

Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "(On the Day of Resurrection) Hell will be brought being pulled by seventy thousand reins, and with each rein there will be seventy thousand angels pulling it."
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the Sahih, except Hafs bin Umar bin al-Sabbah, and Ibn Hibban declared him trustworthy.

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "If an iron mace (of Hell) were placed on the earth and the two races (that is, humans and jinn) gathered to lift it, they would not be able to move it from the earth."
Ahmad and Abu Ya'la recorded it; its chain contains weak narrators who have been declared trustworthy.

It is reported from this Companion that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a mountain were struck with an iron mace (of Hell), it would be crushed to pieces, and then it would return to how it was before."
Ahmad and Abu Ya'la recorded it within a long hadith, which will come further on if Allah wills. Its chain contains a narrator, Ibn Lahi'ah, who has been declared trustworthy despite his weakness.

Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Seek refuge with Allah from 'Jubb al-Hazan' (the Pit of Grief)!" The people asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what is 'Jubb al-Hazan'?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is a valley in Hell, and Hell itself seeks refuge with Allah Almighty from the evil of this valley four hundred times every day. The 'Ghararun' will be thrown into it." It was asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who is meant by the 'Ghararun'?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Those who show off with their deeds in the world."
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat; its chain contains a narrator, Muhammad bin al-Fadl bin Atiyyah, and there is agreement on his being da'if (weak).