Ibn Mas'ud said regarding God's words, "He was two bows' length away or nearer," "The heart did not belie what it saw," and "He has indeed seen the greatest of the signs of his Lord," that they all refer to his seeing Gabriel who had six hundred wings. (Bukhari and Muslim.) In Tirmidhi's version he said regarding "The eye did not belie what it saw" that God's messenger saw Gabriel in a mantle of thin brocade, filling the space between the sky and the earth. Tirmidhi and Bukhari tell regarding His words, "He has indeed seen the greatest of the signs of his Lord," that he saw thin green brocade which blocked out the horizon in the sky.

Malik b. Anas was asked about the words of God most high, "Looking towards their Lord [1] ," and told that some people said it referred to His reward. To this Malik replied, "They lie. How do they explain His words, `Nay, on that day they shall be veiled from their Lord' [2] ?" Malik said men would look at their Lord with their eyes on the day of resurrection, adding, "If the believers were not to look at their Lord on the day of resurrection God would not have reproached the infidels with being veiled saying, `Nay, on that day they shall be veiled from their Lord'." Quran; 75:23 Quran; 83:15. This verse refers to unbelievers. It is transmitted in Sharh as-sunna.

Jabir reported the Prophet as saying, "While the inhabitants of paradise are in their bliss a light will shine out to them, and raising their heads they will see that their Lord has looked down on them from above. He will then say, `Peace be to you, inhabitants of paradise,' the proof of that being the words of God most high, `Peace, a word from a merciful Lord [*] .' He will then look at them and they will look at Him, and they will not turn aside to any of their bliss as long as they are looking at Him till He veils Himself from them and His light remains." *Quran; 36:58 Ibn Majah transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God's messenger as saying, "The fire you have is one-seventieth part of the fire of Jahannam." Someone suggested that if it were ordinary fire, it would be enough, but he replied, "It has sixty-nine parts in excess of fires in this world, each of them being equivalent to their heat." (Bukhari and Muslim, the wording being Bukhari's.) Muslim's version has "Your fire which the son of Adam kindles," and uses the feminine singular pronoun instead of the feminine plural. (This is a matter which makes no difference to the translation, but is purely connected with different forms of expression allowable in Arabic grammar.

Ibn Mas'ud reported God's messenger as saying, "Jahannam will be brought on that day having seventy thousand halters, each being pulled by seventy thousand angels." Muslim transmitted it.

An-Nu`man b. Bashir reported God's messenger as saying, "The inhabitant of hell who will have the lightest punishment will be he who has two sandals and two sandal-straps of fire from which his brain will bubble like a pot, and he will think that no one is having a more severe punishment than he, although he is having the lightest punishment." (Bukhari and Muslim;)

Ibn `Abbas reported God's messenger as saying, "The inhabitant of hell who will have the lightest punishment will be Abu Talib, and he will be wearing two sandals from which his brain will bubble." Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas reported God's messenger as saying, "The one among the inhabitants of hell who had the pleasantest life in the world will be brought on the day of resurrection and dipped once in hell. Then will be said, `Son of Adam, have you ever experienced any good? Has any pleasantness come your way?' to which he will reply, `No, my Lord, I swear by God.' Then the one among the inhabitants of paradise who had the most miserable life in the world will be brought and dipped once in paradise. Then will be said, `Son of Adam, have you ever experienced any misfortune? Has any distress come your way?' to which he will reply, `No, my Lord, I swear by God, no misfortune has ever come my way, and I have never experienced any distress'." Muslim transmitted it.

He quoted the Prophet as stating that on the day of resurrection God will say to the inhabitant of hell who has the lightest punishment, " If you had everything the earth contains would you seek to ransom yourself with it? " and when he replies that he would, He will say, "I desired less than that from you when you were in Adam's loins, viz. that you should associate nothing with Me [*] , but you insisted on associating others with Me." *The reference here is to what is mentioned in Quran, 7:172, regarding the covenant with the descendants of Adam. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Samura b. Jundub reported the Prophet as saying, "There will be some to whose ankles the fire will reach, some to whose knees the fire will reach, some to whose waist the fire will reach, and some to whose collar-bone the fire will reach." Muslim transmitted it.