an aged adulterer, a lying king, and an arrogant pauper.” Muslim transmitted this report. (The term ʿāʾil denotes a poor person.)

Explanation
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—places at the end of his book Riyad al-Salihin, in the section of miscellaneous narrations, the report he cites from Abu Hurayrah (Allah be pleased with him) in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Three kinds of people will not be spoken to by Allah on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them or look at them, and for them is a painful punishment.” It was the Prophet’s ﷺ practice, reflecting his matchless eloquence and clarity, to list matters in a detailed, itemized form so that they could be readily memorized and understood. At times he would say, “Three people Allah will not speak to on the Day of Resurrection,” at others, “Two qualities of my community…,” and at others still, “Seven whom Allah will shade on the Day when there is no shade except His,” and so forth—numerous examples of this occur. When an issue is broken down and assigned a number, it becomes easier for a person to grasp, remember, and not forget.

“Three” here refers to three categories, not three individual persons—three classes of people whom Allah will not address on the Day of Resurrection with words of pleasure. That does not preclude His addressing them with words of wrath, for He, Exalted is He, does speak in anger, even to the inhabitants of Hell. When they plead, “Our Lord, bring us out; and if we return [to sin], then we are truly wrongdoers,” He will say, “Remain despised therein, and do not speak to Me” (Quran 23:108).