—“and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge.” (al-Ṭalāq 65:12)
He then said: ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us; Ibn ʿUlayyah informed us(1) from ʿAlī ibn al-Mubārak, who said: Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr narrated to us from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ḥārith, from Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. A dispute had arisen between him and some people over a piece of land, so he went in to ʿĀʾishah and told her about it. She said,
“O Abū Salamah, keep away from that land, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘Whoever unjustly claims even a handspan of land will be made to wear it—as a collar—from the seven earths.’”(3)
Al-Bukhārī also recorded this report in the Book of Usurpations(4); Muslim collected it as well through several chains(5) from Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr. Aḥmad transmitted it from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, from Abū Salamah(6), and again through Yūnus, from Abān, from Yahyā ibn Abī Kathīr, from Abū Salamah, from ʿĀʾishah in similar wording(7).
Al-Bukhārī further said: Bishr ibn Muḥammad narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, from Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Sālim, from his father, who reported that the Prophet ﷺ declared:
“Whoever seizes any portion of land without right will be swallowed up by it on the Day of Resurrection to the depth of seven earths.”(8)
He likewise placed it in the Book of Usurpations(9) through Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm, from ʿAbd Allāh—meaning Ibn al-Mubārak—from Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah; this chain is unique to him.
Al-Bukhārī also cites here(10) the ḥadīth of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakrah, from his father, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Time has returned to its original cycle on the day Allah created the heavens and the earth; the year consists of twelve months …” to the end of the narration.
His purpose—Allah knows best—is to affirm the Almighty’s statement:
“Allah is the One who created seven heavens and, from the earth, their like.” (al-Ṭalāq 65:12)
That is, in number: just as the present number of months is twelve, corresponding to the number of months with Allah in His primordial Book, so this(11) correspondence pertains to time, while the other pertains to space.