Sahih Ibn Hibban 873

Translation

✧ “There was a king among those before you who had a magician. When he grew old, he said to the king, ‘I have become old, so send me a boy to teach him magic.’ He sent him a boy to teach. On his way, when he passed by a monk, he would sit with him, listen to his words, and be impressed. When he went to the magician, he would beat him, and when he returned from the magician, he would sit with the monk and listen to his words. When he went to his family, they would beat him. He complained about that to the monk, who said, ‘If you fear the magician, say my family detained me, and if you fear your family, say the magician detained me.’ While he was like that, he came upon a great beast that had blocked the people’s way. He said, ‘Today I will know whether the monk is better or the magician.’ He took a stone and said, ‘O Allah, if the monk’s affair is more beloved to You than the magician’s, kill this beast so the people may pass.’ He threw it and killed it, and the people passed. He went to the monk and told him. The monk said, ‘My son, today you are better than me. You will be tested, and if you are tested, do not point to me.’ The boy used to heal the blind and the leper and treat other ailments. A courtier of the king who had gone blind heard of him. He came to the boy with many gifts and said, ‘All that is here is yours if you heal me.’ He said, ‘I do not heal anyone; it is Allah who heals. If you believe in Allah, I will supplicate Allah, and He will heal you.’ He believed in Allah, and Allah healed him. He came to the king walking, sitting with him as he used to. The king said, ‘So-and-so, who restored your sight?’ He said, ‘My Lord.’ He said, ‘Do you have a lord other than me?’ He said, ‘My Lord and your Lord is one.’ He kept torturing him until he pointed to the boy. The boy was brought, and the king said, ‘My son, has your magic reached such a level that you heal the blind and the leper and do all this?’ He said, ‘I do not heal anyone; it is Allah who heals.’ He seized him and kept torturing him until he pointed to the monk. The monk was brought and told, ‘Renounce your religion.’ He refused. He called for a saw, placed it on his head’s crown, and split him until his two halves fell. Then the king’s courtier was brought and told, ‘Renounce your religion.’ He refused. He placed the saw on his head’s crown and split him until his two halves fell. Then the boy was brought and told, ‘Renounce your religion.’ He refused. He handed him to a group of his companions and said, ‘Take him to such-and-such mountain, climb with him, and when you reach its summit, if he renounces his religion, spare him; otherwise, throw him off.’ They took him and climbed the mountain. He said, ‘O Allah, spare me from them however You will.’ The mountain shook with them, and they fell. He came walking to the king. The king said, ‘What happened to your companions?’ He said, ‘Allah spared me from them.’ He handed him to a group of his companions and said, ‘Take him and carry him in a boat, take him to the middle of the sea and set sail; if he renounces his religion, spare him; otherwise, throw him into the sea.’ They took him. He said, ‘O Allah, spare me from them however You will.’ The ship capsized with them. He came walking to the king. The king said, ‘What happened to your companions?’ He said, ‘Allah spared me from them.’ He said to the king, ‘You will not kill me until you do what I command you.’ He said, ‘What is it?’ He said, ‘Gather the people in one open space, crucify me on a trunk, then take an arrow from your quiver, place the arrow in the bow’s center, then say: In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy, then shoot me. If you do that, you will kill me.’ He gathered the people in one open space, crucified him on a trunk, took an arrow from his quiver, placed the arrow in the center of his bow, said, ‘In the name of Allah, the Lord of the boy,’ and shot him. The arrow struck his temple. He placed his hand on the arrow’s spot and died. The people said, ‘We believe in the Lord of the boy, we believe in the Lord of the boy,’ three times. The king was approached and told, ‘Do you see what you feared? By Allah, your fear has befallen you. The people have believed.’ He ordered trenches at the mouths of the streets. They were dug, and fires were lit. He said, ‘Whoever does not renounce his religion, throw him into it.’ They did so until a woman came with her infant. She hesitated to fall into it. The boy said to her, ‘O mother, be patient, for you are upon the truth.’”

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What scholars said about it

In their own words, as Hadith Unlocked records them. They are shown, not summarised into a grade.

• Qurṭubī

  ليس فيهم أصح من حديث صاحب الأخدود يعني فيمن تكلم في المهد

  machine translationAmong them there is none more sound (aṣaḥḥ) than the hadith of the man of the Ditch (Ṣāḥib al-Ukhdūd), meaning among those who spoke in the cradle. Report a problem

  in صحيح ابن حبان, p. 876

Other narrations of this report

Sahih Muslim 3005Jami' at-Tirmidhi 3340

Narrators

1. 1
   Ṣuhayb b. Sinān al-Rūmī

   Famous Companion (ṣaḥābī)d. Ibn Saʿd said: 38 AH, in Ibn al-Athīr's book: 39 AH
   صُهَيْبُ بْنُ سِنَانَ الرُّومِيُّصحابي شهير
   عن
2. 2
   ʿAbd al-Raḥman b. Abī Laylá

   trustworthy (thiqah)d. 82 AH, or 83 AH, also said: 71 AH, which is a mistake
   عبد الرحمن بن أبي ليلىثقة
   عن
3. 3
   Thābit al-Bunānī

   trustworthy (thiqah), devout (ʿābid)d. 122 AH, or 123 AH, or 126 AH, or 127 AH, or 129 AH
   ثابت البنانيثقة عابد
   أخبرنا
4. 4
   Ḥammād b. Salamah

   trustworthy (thiqah), devout (ʿābid), the most reliable of people in narrating from Thābit; his memory changed towards the end of his lifed. 167 AH, or 165 AH.
   حماد بن سلمةثقه عابد ، أثبت الناس في ثابت ، وتغير حفظه بآخره
   حدثنا
5. 5
   Hudbah b. Khālid

   trustworthy (thiqah), devout worshipper, al-Nasāʾī alone considered him soft (layyin)d. 235 AH, or: 236 AH, or: 237 AH, or: 238 AH, also said: 239 AH
   هدبة بن خالدثقة عابد ، تفرد النسائي بتليينه
   حدثنا
6. 6
   al-Ḥasan b. Sufyān

   d. 303 AH
   الحسن بن سفيان النسوي
   أخبرنا
7. 7
   Ibn Ḥibbān

   d. 354 AH
   ابن حبان

Who each narrator was and how reliable, from hdith.com

Latin names and English verdicts with a dotted underline are machine translations, not reviewed.