from Thābit, from Anas, who said:

“The Angel in charge of the rain asked permission to visit the Prophet ﷺ, and he granted it. He then said to Umm Salamah, ‘Guard the door for us; let no one come in.’ Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī nevertheless entered, hurried over, and climbed onto the Prophet’s shoulder. The angel said, ‘Do you love him?’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘Yes.’ The angel said, ‘Your community will kill him; and if you wish, I can show you the very spot where he will be slain.’ He then struck his hand on the ground and showed him red earth. Umm Salamah took that soil and tied it up in a corner of her garment.” Anas continued, “We later heard that he would be killed at Karbalāʾ.”

Imām Aḥmad said: Wakiʿ narrated to us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd narrated to me, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah—or from Umm Salamah—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “An angel entered my house who had never entered before. [He said to me: ‘This son of yours, Ḥusayn, will be killed; and if you wish, I can show you some of the earth from the land where he will be killed.’] He then produced red earth.” (1)(2)(3)

This ḥadīth has come down through several chains from Umm Salamah. Al-Ṭabarānī (4) transmitted it from Abū Umāmah, including the story of Umm Salamah; Muḥammad ibn Saʿd (5) recorded it from ʿĀʾishah in wording similar to hers—Allah knows best. It is also related from Zaynab bint Jahsh and from Lubābah, Umm al-Faḍl, the wife of al-ʿAbbās; more than one of the Tābiʿīn transmitted it in mursal form.

Abū’l-Qāsim al-Baghawī said: Muḥammad ibn Hārūn Abū Bakr narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Raqī and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan al-Rāzī both said: Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik Abū Wāqid al-Ḥarrānī narrated to us; ʿAṭāʾ ibn Muslim narrated to us; Ashʿath ibn Suḥaym (6) narrated to us, from his father, who said: I heard Anas ibn al-Ḥārith say, “I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, ‘This son of mine—meaning Ḥusayn—will be killed in a land called Karbalāʾ; whoever among you is present should come to his aid.’” He continued, “Anas ibn al-Ḥārith then went out to Karbalāʾ and was killed alongside Ḥusayn.” He added, “I know of no one else who transmitted it.”

Imām Aḥmad said: Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd narrated to us; Shuraḥbīl (7) ibn Mudrik narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Nujay (8), from his father—who travelled with ʿAlī and was in charge of his water vessel—that when they passed by Nineveh (9) on their way to Ṣiffīn, ʿAlī called out