—a land that was sanctified. He then said: “We moved on until we came to an opening shaped like a clay oven: its top was narrow and its bottom broad, with a fire blazing beneath it. Whenever the flames shot up, the people inside would rise with them until they were on the verge of escaping; but when the fire subsided they fell back in. Inside were naked men and women.

“We continued until we reached a river of blood—of this he had no doubt. In the middle of the river stood a man, and on its bank stood another man with stones in front of him. Whenever the man in the river tried to get out, the one on the bank hurled a stone into his mouth, sending him back to where he had been. Each time he tried to leave, the other threw a stone into his mouth, and he returned as before.

“Next they made me climb a tree and brought me into a house finer than any I had ever seen; inside were men, some elderly and some young.

“As for what you saw: the man whose cheeks were being torn apart is a liar who tells a lie that is carried from him until it reaches the horizons; he will be treated like that until the Day of Resurrection. The man whose head you saw being smashed is one to whom Allah taught the Qur’an, yet he slept through it at night and did not act upon it by day; such will be done to him until the Day of Resurrection.

“The first house you entered is the dwelling of the ordinary believers, while this house is the dwelling of the martyrs. I am Gabriel and this is Michael. Now raise your head.” I raised my head and saw above me something like a cloud. They said, “That is your abode.” I said, “Let me enter my home.” They replied, “You still have some of your lifetime remaining; when you complete it, you will come to your abode.” Related by al-Bukhārī.

His statement yuthlaghu ra’suhu—with a thā’ and a ghayn—means “his head is crushed.”