And his precise wording is:

“My Pool stretches from ʿAmmān to Yemen. Inside it are vessels as numerous as the stars in the sky; it is sweeter than honey, whiter than milk, and softer than butter. Whoever drinks from it will never again feel thirst.” They did not record it in their collections. (1)

Narration of Thawban (may Allah be pleased with him)

Imam Aḥmad said: ʿAffān narrated to us; Hammām narrated to us; Qatādah narrated to us, from Sālim, from Maʿdān, from Thawban, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“I shall be at the very basin (2) of my Pool on the Day of Resurrection, driving people away from it for the sake of the people of Yemen, striking them with my staff until they withdraw.”

He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, how wide is it?” He replied:

“From where I stand to ʿAmmān. Its water surges (3), and two channels supply it.”

Aḥmad also transmitted the report through ʿAbd al-Ṣamad—from Hishām—from Qatādah; through ʿAbd al-Wahhāb—from Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah—from Qatādah; and through ʿAbd al-Razzaq—from Maʿmar—from Qatādah, all with the same content. In that last version the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about its breadth and said:

“From my present position to ʿAmmān.”

ʿAbd al-Razzaq reported it as well in the wording: “Between Buṣrā and Ṣanʿāʾ, or between Aylah and Mecca,” or he said, “From where I now stand to ʿAmmān.” He was asked about its drink and said:

“It is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey; it churns. Two down-spouts feed it from Paradise, one of gold and the other of silver.”

Abū Yaʿlā said: Abū Bakr—that is, Ibn Abī Shaybah—narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Bishr al-ʿAbdī narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Sālim ibn Abī al-Jaʿd, from Maʿdān ibn Abī Ṭalḥah, from Thawban, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

“I shall be at the brink of my Pool, keeping people away from it in favor of the people of Yemen; indeed, I will strike them with my staff until the people disperse.”

He added that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about the Pool’s extent, and he answered:

“It is like the distance from where I am standing to ʿAmmān—a journey of about a month, or thereabouts.”

He was then asked about its drink, and he said:

“It is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey; it churns. Two channels supply it, their flow coming from Paradise—one of silver and the other of gold.”

Muslim likewise transmitted this report from Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāʿīl, Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā, and Muḥammad ibn Bashshār, all through Muʿādh ibn Hishām, from his father, from Qatādah, with similar wording. (4)