al-Matalib al-'Aliyah 4124

Translation

✧ I said to Ka'b: 'What holds this earth upon which we are?' He said: 'The command of Allah, the Exalted.' He said: I said: 'I know that the command of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is what holds it, but what is that command of Allah?' He said: 'A green tree in the hand of an angel among the angels, standing on the back of the whale, curled up, and the heavens are beneath the Throne.' I said: 'Who inhabits the second earth?' He said: 'The barren wind; when He willed to destroy 'Ad, He revealed to its keepers: "Open a door from it." They said: "Our Lord, like the nostril of an ox?" He said: "Then it would cast away the earth and whoever is upon it." So it was made like the place of a signet ring.' He said: I said: 'Who inhabits the third earth?' He said: 'The stones of Jahannam.' He said: I said: 'Who inhabits the fourth earth?' He said: 'The sulfur of Jahannam.' I said: 'Does it have sulfur?' He said: 'Yes, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, and seas into which if the mountains were thrown they would crumble from its heat.' He said: I said: 'Who inhabits the fifth earth?' He said: 'The serpents of Jahannam.' I said: 'Does it have serpents?' He said: 'Yes, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, like valleys.' I said: 'Who inhabits the sixth earth?' He said: 'The scorpions of Jahannam.' I said: 'Does it have scorpions?' He said: 'Yes, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, like the celestial sphere, and they have tails like spears. One of them would meet the disbeliever and sting him one sting, and his flesh would fall off his feet.' He said: I said: 'Who inhabits the seventh earth?' He said: 'That is Sijjin; in it Iblis is fettered. The angels sought help against him, so Allah, the Exalted, imprisoned him in it, a hand in front of him and a hand behind him, and a leg in front of him and a leg behind him. His troops bring him news, and he has a time when he will be sent forth.'

Grades by grader

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Other narrations of this report

Musnad Ahmad 17712Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35280Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 35297al-Mustadrak (al-Hakim) 6087

Narrators

1. 1
   Kaʿb al-Aḥbār

   trustworthy (thiqah)d. 34 AH, also said: 32 AH, and al-Wāqidī stated it definitively, and al-Haytham b. ʿAdī, and Khalīfah b. Khayyāṭ, and ʿAmr b. ʿAlī, and more than one
   كَعْب الأَحْبَارثقة
   صريح في السماع
2. 2
   ʿAṭāʾ b. Yasār al-Hilālī

   Trustworthy (thiqah), excellent (fāḍil), a man of admonitions and worship.d. 94 AH, or 97 AH, or 103 AH, or 104 AH
   عَطَاءِ بْنِ يَسَارٍثقة فاضل ، صاحب مواعظ وعبادة
   عن
3. 3
   Zayd b. Aslam

   trustworthy (thiqah), a scholar, and he would narrate with omission of the Companion link (yursil)d. 135 AH or 136 AH
   زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسْلَمَثقة عالم ، وكان يرسل
   عن
4. 4
   Ibn ʿAjlān

   truthful (ṣadūq), except that the hadiths of Abū Hurayrah became confused for him (ikhtalaṭat ʿalayhi)d. 148 AH, or 149 AH, al-Dhahabī said in al-Kāshif 138 AH
   مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَجْلَانَصدوق إلا أنه اختلطت عليه أحاديث أبي هريرة
   عن
5. 5
   Ismāʿīl b. ʿAyyāsh

   truthful (ṣadūq) in his narration from the people of his own land, but confused (mukhaliṭ) in his narration from othersd. 181 AH, or 182 AH
   إِسْمَاعِيلُ بْنُ عَيَّاشٍصدوق في روايته عن أهل بلده ، مخلط في غيرهم
   حدثنا
6. 6
   Yaḥyā b. Abī Bukayr

   trustworthy (thiqah)d. 208 AH, also said 209 AH
   يَحْيَى ابْنُ أَبِي بُكَيْرٍثقة .
   حدثنا
7. 7
   al-Ḥārith

   d. 279 AH or 282 AH
   الْحَارِثُ

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

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