“We were sitting, awaiting the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, at the prayer ground on the Day of Sacrifice. He came, greeted the people, and made the above statement. Then he stepped forward and led the people in two rak‘ahs, after which he concluded the prayer with salām. He then turned to face the people and was handed a bow or a staff, upon which he leaned. He praised and extolled Allah, and commanded and forbade them.”

I say: This is a good chain of transmission, and its narrators are reliable. There has been criticism of Abu Janab—whose name was Yahya ibn Abi Habbah—but the criticism that bears upon this report is his concealment in transmission. Yet, as you can see, he explicitly stated that he heard it directly. A similar hadith is found in the Two Sahihs and elsewhere.

1679 — “Indeed, the inhabitants of Hell will weep so much that, were ships set to sail in their tears, they would sail; and they will weep blood—that is, instead of tears.”

Al-Hakim transmitted it (4/605) through Abu al-Nu‘man Muhammad ibn al-Fadl, who said: Salam ibn Miskin narrated to us; Abu Burdah narrated from ‘Abd Allah ibn Qays that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said it. He said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi concurred with him.

I say: He should rather have added the words: “According to the criteria of al-Bukhari and Muslim,” for all its narrators are among those used by both of them. However, this Abu al-Nu‘man—known as ‘Arim—became confused in his later years, and I do not know whether he narrated it before or after that confusion. Yet the hadith is supported by what Yazid al-Raqashi narrated from Anas ibn Malik, attributed to the Prophet, with the wording: “Weeping will be unleashed upon the inhabitants of Hell, and they will weep until their tears are exhausted. Then they will weep blood, until it forms channels on their faces like trenches; were ships set afloat in it, they would sail.” Ibn Majah transmitted it (4324), as did Ibn Abi al-Dunya in The Description of Hell (folio 12/1).