Note: An indication of the superficiality of modern scholarship is the annotator’s remark on Qasr al-Amal (Curtailing Hope):
“I have not seen it in this wording, but al-Bukhari has it narrated from Anas ...” *
- “In Hell there are snakes as large as the necks of Bukht camels. They will bite a person once, and he will feel the burning of that bite for forty years. In it, too, are scorpions like saddled mules. They will sting a person once, and he will feel the burning of that sting for forty years.”
Al-Bayhaqi recorded it in al-Baʿth wa al-Nushur (298/616), by way of al-Hakim, through his authentic chain of transmission from Asbagh ibn al-Faraj: Ibn Wahb narrated to us from ʿAmr ibn al-Harith, who informed him that Darraj Abu al-Samh narrated to him that he heard Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Jazaʾ al-Zubaydi—the Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)—say, reporting from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): ... and he mentioned it.
I say: This is a good chain of transmission; all its narrators are reliable. This is notwithstanding the well-known disagreement concerning Darraj Abu al-Samh. The sounder view is that his hadith are sound when narrated from someone other than Abu al-Haytham, and this is one such narration, for he narrated it directly from Abdullah ibn al-Harith ibn Jazaʾ.
Al-Hakim (4/593), by way of Bahr ibn Nasr, and Ibn Hibban (2613, al-Mawarid), by way of Harmalah, also recorded it. Both said: Ibn Wahb narrated to us through the same chain, but without its second part. Al-Hakim said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” Al-Dhahabi agreed with him.
Ibn Lahiʿah also corroborated him, narrating from Darraj with both parts of the report.
Ahmad recorded it (4/191).