Al-Dārimī likewise transmitted it, and he related that he had said, “People do not raise this ḥadīth.” Al-Tirmidhī commented, “It is only reported as a statement of Abū al-Dardāʾ.” (1)

A discussion of the food of the inhabitants of the Fire [and their drink]

Allah the Exalted says, “They will have no food except from ḍarīʿ, which neither fattens nor satisfies hunger.” (Q 88:6–7)

Ḍarīʿ is a thorny plant that grows in the land of the Ḥijāz; it is commonly called al-shibriq.

In the ḥadīth of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, from Ibn ʿAbbās, raised to the Prophet, it is said:

“Ḍarīʿ is something that will exist in the Fire; it resembles thorns, is more bitter than al-ṣabr (aloe), more putrid than carrion, and hotter than the Fire itself. When its eater tastes it, it neither descends into the stomach nor rises to the mouth; it remains suspended between the two, providing neither nourishment nor relief from hunger.”

This ḥadīth is extremely unusual.

Allah, Most High, also says, “Indeed, with Us are fetters and a blazing Fire, and a food that chokes, and a painful punishment.” (Q 73:12–13)

And He says, “Every arrogant tyrant has failed. Ahead of him is Hell, and he will be given putrid water to drink. He will sip it but will hardly swallow it; death will come to him from every side, yet he will not die, and beyond that lies a relentless punishment.” (Q 14:15–17)

And He says, “Then indeed, you who went astray and denied will surely eat from the tree of zaqqūm, filling your bellies with it, and on top of that you will drink boiling water, drinking it as the thirsty camel drinks. Such will be their hospitality on the Day of Judgment.” (Q 56:51–56)

And He says, “Is this better as hospitality, or the tree of zaqqūm? We have made it a trial for the wrongdoers. It is a tree that emerges from the bottom of the blazing Fire; its spathes are like the heads of devils. They shall indeed eat from it, and fill their bellies with it; then, on top of that, they will have a mixture of boiling water.” (Q 37:62–67)

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak said: Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Busr al-Yaḥṣubī, from Abū Umāmah, from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, regarding the words of Allah, “and he will be made to drink putrid water; he will sip it but will hardly swallow it” (Q 14:16–17):

“It will be brought close to him, yet he will loathe it. When it is brought near his face, it will scorch his features and the skin of his head will fall into it. When he drinks it, it will cut up his intestines until it passes out of his backside.”

Allah the Exalted says, “And they will be given boiling water to drink that will cut up their intestines.” And He says, “If they cry out for relief, they will be relieved with water like molten brass that scalds the faces—how evil a drink and how wretched a resting-place!” (Q 18:29)

Al-Tirmidhī transmitted it as well through Suwayd ibn Naṣr, from al-Mubārak, with similar wording, and he said, “It is gharīb.” (2)

In the report of Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī, from Shuʿbah, from al-Aʿmash, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited the verse, “Fear Allah as He should be feared” (Q 3:102) and said: “If a single drop of …”