Sharik—through ‘Asim, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah—reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“The Fire was fanned for a thousand years until it turned red; then it was fanned for another thousand years until it turned white; then it was fanned for a further thousand years until it turned black. It is now black and lightless.”

Al-Tirmidhi commented, “I know of no one who has raised this ḥadith to the Prophet except Yaḥyā—meaning Ibn Abī Bukayr—from Sharik.” That is al-Tirmidhi’s statement. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr Ibn Mardawayh likewise transmitted it through Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Mukram, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Saʿd, his uncle, and Sharik with the same wording. (1)

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ and Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿAmr told us, saying, “Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār narrated to us; Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us, from al-Aʿmash, from [Abu] Ḍabyan, from Salmān, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ declared:

‘The Fire—its embers are never extinguished, and its flame gives no light.’

He then recited: ‘So taste the punishment of the burning!’ (Qur’an 8:50). Al-Bayhaqī remarked, “Its being traced back to the Prophet is weak,” and then recorded it through another route as a companion-only report. (2)

Ibn Mardawayh further said: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ibrāhīm told us; Muḥammad ibn Yūnus told us; Abū ʿAttāb al-Dallāl told us; Mubārak ibn Faḍālah told us, from Thābit, from Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited: ‘a Fire whose fuel is people and stones’ (Qur’an 66:6) and added:

“It was kindled for a thousand years until it turned white, a thousand years until it reddened, and a thousand years until it blackened. It is black, and its flame gives no light.” (3)

He also said: Daʿlaj ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim narrated to us; al-Ḥakam ibn Marwān narrated to us; Salām al-Ṭawīl narrated to us, from al-Ajalḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kindī, from ʿAdiyy ibn ʿAdiyy, who related that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb said:

“The angel Gabriel came to the Prophet ﷺ at an hour in which he did not usually come. The Prophet asked him, ‘O Gabriel, what has caused your colour to change?’ He replied, ‘I have not come until Allah—exalted is He—commanded that the gates of the Fire be opened.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then said, ‘O Gabriel, describe the Fire for me; give me a portrait of Jahannam.’ Gabriel answered, ‘Allah ordered that it be kindled for a thousand years until it turned white, then a thousand years until it grew red, then a thousand years until it became black. It is black and dark—its sparks give no light and its flame is never quenched. By Him Who sent you with the truth, were one single ring of the chain that Allah—exalted is He—described in His Book to be placed upon the mountains of the earth, it would melt them.’

“The Prophet ﷺ exclaimed, ‘That is enough, O Gabriel, lest my heart break!’ He then looked at Gabriel and found him weeping. The Prophet ﷺ asked, ‘O Gabriel, do you weep while you hold the station you enjoy with Allah?’ He replied, ‘And why should I not weep, when I do not know—perhaps I may yet be in Allah’s knowledge…’