Ahmad also transmits it (5/190): “Yazīd ibn Hārūn narrated to us; Abū Masʿūd al-Jarīrī informed us …,” but in his wording the Prophet ﷺ said, “Seek refuge with Allah from the trial of life and death,” in place of, “Seek refuge with Allah from the trials—those that are manifest and those that are hidden.”
Ibn Ḥibbān likewise records it (785) in wording similar to Muslim’s report, except that it does not mention Zayd ibn Thābit.
Explanation of unfamiliar terms
(تَدافَنوا) is originally tatadāfanū; one tāʾ has been dropped. It means: “Were it not for the fear that your hearing this would lead you to stop burying one another.”
(شهباء) means “white.”
(حاصت) means “hovered” or “swerved,” as occurs in Aḥmad’s version; in other words, “became agitated.”
(خَرِبًا) with a kasrah on the khāʾ and a fatḥah on the rāʾ; the plural of khirbah, just as niqmah → niqam.
(تُبْتَلَى) means “to be tested”; that is, the deceased is examined by the two angels when they ask, “Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet?”
Benefits of the ḥadith
These narrations contain many lessons; I will mention some of them, or at least the most important:
- Affirmation of the punishment of the grave. The reports on this point are mutawātir (successive); therefore, there is no room to doubt it under the claim that they are only āḥād (solitary) narrations. Even if we were to concede that they are āḥād, they must still be accepted, for the Qur’an corroborates them. The Almighty says: “So an evil torment encompassed Pharaoh’s people—the Fire: they are exposed to it morning and evening; and on the Day when the Hour is established it will be said, ‘Admit the people of Pharaoh to the severest punishment.’”