Reports on what is prepared for the people of the Fire and its severity

Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning the verse of the Qur'an "and Hell will be brought forward that Day" [Al-Fajr: 23] that Hell will be brought with seventy thousand reins, and each rein will be pulled by seventy thousand angels.

It is narrated from Ka'b that on the Day of Resurrection Hell will heave one long breath, and every angel brought near and every prophet will fall upon his knees and say: "O my Lord, myself, myself!"

It is narrated from Mughith that Hell breathes out twice every day. Every creature hears it except the jinn and humankind (those upon whom the reckoning and punishment are due do not hear it).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) that the fire of Hell is black; its embers do not shine and its flame is not extinguished. Then he (may Allah be pleased with him) recited this verse of the Qur'an: "Whenever they seek to get out of it, out of anguish, they will be returned to it, and: Taste the punishment of burning" [Al-Hajj: 22].

It is narrated from Ibn Abi al-Hudhayl that the fire of Hell will scorch their faces. No flesh will remain on any bone; the flesh will fall off.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the people of Hell will call out: "O Malik, let your Lord finish us off." They will be given no answer for forty years. Then they will be answered: "You will surely remain" [Al-Zukhruf: 77]. Then the people of Hell will say: "Bring us out of it; if we return, we will indeed be wrongdoers." Then they will be given no answer for the length of the life of this world, and then it will be said to them: "Be gone into it, and do not speak to Me" [Al-Mu'minun: 107-108]. After that, no word will come out of their mouths except screaming and wailing.

It is narrated from Mughith that when a person of Hell is brought to Hell, it will be said to him: "Wait, so that we may give you a gift." Then a cup of snake venom will be brought to him. When he brings it near his mouth, his flesh will scatter to one side and his bones to the other.

Abu Razin said concerning the verse of the Qur'an "scorching the skin" [Al-Muddaththir: 29] that their colour will change until it becomes blacker than the night.

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said concerning the verse of the Qur'an "Indeed the hypocrites will be in the lowest depth of the Fire" [Al-Nisa: 145] that the hypocrites will be confined in coffins.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The gates of Hell are one above another. It will begin with the lowest, which will be filled, and that is Asfal al-Safilin (the lowest of the low). Then the one after it, then the one after that, until Hell has been filled.

Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do you people know what the gates of Hell are like?" The people said: "Yes, they are like these gates." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No, rather they are like this: some of its layers have been placed on top of others."

Yahya bin Abdur-Rahman bin Hatib narrates from his father: We were sitting with Ka'b al-Ahbar (may Allah have mercy on him) in the mosque while he was narrating hadith. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived and sat at the edge of the people. Then he called out to him and said: "O Ka'b, woe to you, make us fear." Ka'b said: "By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, on the Day of Resurrection the Fire will be brought near, and it will have a roaring and wailing. When it is brought near, it will heave one breath, and out of awe of it all the prophets, the truthful ones and the martyrs will fall upon their knees. Then every prophet, truthful one and martyr will say: 'O Allah, today I ask You for nothing but myself.' And O son of al-Khattab, even if you had the deeds of seventy prophets, you would still fear that you would not be saved." Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "By Allah, the matter is very severe."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) that hunger will afflict the people of Hell until it equals the punishment they are in. Then they will seek help, and they will be helped with dari', which will neither fill their stomachs nor make them healthy. They will again seek help, and they will be helped with food that chokes (which sticks in the throat). Then they will remember that they used to clear what stuck in the throat with something to drink. They will ask again, and they will be presented with scalding boiling water by means of iron hooks. When they bring it near, it will burn their faces, and when they drink it, it will cut apart all the organs of their stomachs. Then they will call out: "Call upon your Lord to lighten the punishment for us for a day." They will be answered: "Did your messengers not come to you with clear proofs? They will say: Yes. They will say: Then call; and the call of the disbelievers is only in error" [Ghafir: 49-50]. Then they will say: "Call out to Malik." So they will say: "O Malik, let your Lord finish us off." Malik will answer them: "You will surely remain" [Al-Zukhruf: 77]. Then they will say: "Call upon your Lord, for nothing is more merciful to you than your Lord." Then they will say: "Our Lord, bring us out of it; if we return, we will indeed be wrongdoers." They will be answered: "Be gone into it, and do not speak to Me" [Al-Mu'minun: 107-108]. At that point they will despair of all good, and they will cling to ruin, destruction, screaming and wailing.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Weeping and wailing will be cast upon the people of Hell. They will weep until their tears dry up, and then they will weep tears of blood. Furrows (like wells) will form on their faces, and if ships were launched upon those tears, they would sail."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) that the people of Hell will weep in Hell until, if ships were launched in their tears, they would sail. Then after tears they will weep tears of blood. And for the like of what they are in, one ought to weep.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The lightest punishment in Hell will be for the one who will be made to wear shoes of fire with two straps, because of which his brain will boil as a cauldron boils. That person will not see anyone being punished more severely than him, yet he will be the one with the least and lightest punishment."

It is narrated from Ubayd bin Umayr that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The least punishment in Hell will be for the person who will be made to wear shoes of fire, because of which his brain will boil as though it were a cauldron. His ears will be of embers, his molars will be of embers, his eyelids will be flames of fire, and the entrails of his sides will come out through his feet. The rest of them will be like a few grains in much water, which keeps boiling."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The lightest punishment among the people of Hell will be for the person who will be made to wear shoes of fire, from the heat of which his brain will boil."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The lightest punishment will be for Abu Talib; he will be made to wear shoes of fire."

Sayyiduna Nu'man bin Bashir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying on the pulpit: 'I warn you people of the Fire,' until his blessed cloak fell from one of his shoulders. Then he said: 'I warn you people of the Fire,' until, had he been at this spot of mine, he would have made the people of the market hear him, or whomever among them Allah willed."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Hell complained to Allah Almighty and said: 'O Allah, one part of me has consumed another.' So Allah Almighty appointed two breaths for it, one breath in the summer and one breath in the winter. So the severity you feel in the winter is because of its cold, and the intense heat you feel in the summer is because of its heat."

Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) said in explanation of the verse of the Noble Qur'an, "We will increase them in punishment upon punishment" [Al-Nahl: 88]: "They will be given additional scorpions, whose tails will be as long as tall date palms."

It is narrated from Ka'b that in Hell there are ovens whose narrowness is like the narrowness of the butt of the spear of one of you in the ground; they will close over people according to their deeds.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Paradise and Hell disputed with each other. Hell said: 'In me are the arrogant, the wealthy and the people of high standing.' Paradise said: 'Only the weak and the poor will enter me.' Allah Almighty said to Paradise: 'You are the place of My mercy; I will admit into you whomever I will.' And He said to Hell: 'You are the place of My punishment; by means of you I will punish whomever I will. And I will fill both of you.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "On the Day of Resurrection a neck will come forth from Hell. It will have a tongue, and it will speak, saying: 'I have been commanded regarding three things: I have been commanded regarding whoever associates another with Allah, and every arrogant tyrant (that I take them into myself),' and he mentioned one more. Then it will wrap itself around them and cast them into the afflictions and hardships of Hell."

It is narrated from Mujahid that in Hell there are pits in which there are snakes the size of the necks of Bactrian camels and scorpions like black mules. The people of Hell will flee to those pits, and those snakes and scorpions will seize them by their lips and strip away everything between the hair and the nails. Nothing will save them from this except fleeing back to the Fire.

It is narrated from Mujahid that the people of Hell will be afflicted with mange. They will scratch themselves until their bones show. They will say: "Our Lord, why has this suffering been given to us?" They will be told: "Because of your harming the believers."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that if a single drop of Zaqqum were cast into the world, people's way of life would be ruined.

It is narrated from al-Hasan that if a bucket of the pus of Hell were lowered from the sky and the people of the earth perceived its stench, living in the world would become difficult for them. (The world would be spoiled.)

It is narrated from Mujahid that this fire of yours seeks refuge from the fire of Hell.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a stone the size of seven pregnant she-camels were thrown from the edge of the pit of Hell, it would fall for seventy years without reaching the end of it (the pit)."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that one day the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) heard a sound and asked: "O Jibril, what is this sound?" Jibril said: "Seventy years ago a stone was thrown into the pit of Hell; now it has reached its depth."

Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri said: "One day we found the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) grieved. Some people said: 'O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, why do I see you like this?' The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'I heard a sound the like of which I had never heard before. I asked Jibril: What is this? Jibril (peace be upon him) said: Seventy years ago a stone was thrown into the depths of Hell, and today it has reached its depth.' Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 'By the One who caused Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) to pass away, after that day I never saw him (peace and blessings be upon him) laughing until he departed from this world.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Harith bin Uqaysh (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Among my Ummah is one who will be enlarged for the Fire until he becomes one of its corners, and in my Ummah there will also be people through whose intercession more people than the tribe of Mudar will enter Paradise."

Al-Hasan said concerning the verse of the Noble Qur'an, "Every time their skins are burnt through, We will replace them with other skins" [Al-Nisa: 56]: "It has reached me that one of the people of Hell will be burned in the Fire seventy thousand times in a day."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the people of Hell will be enlarged in the Fire until their lips reach their navels. They will be disfigured, tumbling about in the Fire.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the people of Hell are cast into Hell, their bodies will become immensely large, and their molar will be equal to Mount Uhud."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the molar of a disbeliever in Hell will be equal to Mount Uhud.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Arqam (may Allah be pleased with him) that the molar of a disbeliever in Hell will be equal to Mount Uhud.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: "Do you know how thick the skin of a disbeliever will be?" Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said no. Sayyiduna Abdullah said: "The thickness of the skin of a disbeliever will be forty-two cubits."