Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ خَبَّابِ بْنِ الأرَتِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: شَكَوْنَا إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَهُوَ مُتَوَسِّدٌ بُرْدَةً لَهُ فِي ظِلِّ الْكَعْبَةِ، فَقُلْنَا: أَلَا تَسْتَنْصِرُ لَنَا؟ أَلَا تَدْعُو لَنَا؟ فَقَالَ: «قَدْ كَانَ مَنْ قَبْلَكُمْ يُؤْخَذُ الرَّجُلُ، فَيُحْفَرُ لَهُ فِي الأرْضِ فَيُجْعَلُ فِيهَا، ثُمَّ يُؤْتَى بِالْمِنْشَارِ فَيُوضَعُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ فَيُجْعَلُ نِصْفَيْنِ، وَيُمْشَطُ بِأمْشَاطِ الْحَدِيدِ مَا دُونَ لَحْمِهِ وَعَظْمِهِ، مَا يَصُدُّهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ دِينِهِ، وَاللَّهِ ليُتِمَّنَّ اللَّهُ هَذَا الأمْرَ حَتَّى يَسِيرَ الرَّاكِبُ مِنْ صَنْعَاءَ إِلَى حَضْرَمَوْتَ لاَ يَخَافُ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَالذِّئْبَ عَلَى غَنَمِهِ، وَلَكِنَّكُمْ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ». رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Abu ‘Abd Allah Khabbab ibn al-Aratt (may Allah be pleased with him) who said:
We complained to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — while he was reclining in the shade of the Ka’bah, using his cloak as a pillow — and we said: Will you not seek help for us? Will you not make du’a for us?
He said: “Among those before you, a man would be taken and a pit dug for him in the earth, and he would be placed inside it. Then a saw would be brought and placed on his head and he would be split in two. And he would be combed with iron combs down to his flesh and bone, and that would not turn him away from his religion.
And by Allah — Allah will surely complete this matter until a rider travels from San’a’ to Hadramawt fearing only Allah and the wolf over his sheep. But you are rushing.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
Meanings of Key Words
- Shakawna ilayhi (شَكَوْنَا إِلَىٰ رَسُولِ الله) — we complained to the Messenger of Allah; past‑tense complaint — the suffering had become heavy enough to prompt them to speak. The tone is not accusation but the speech of people at the end of endurance asking for the one who can change the reality
- Mutossidan burdatan lahu fi zilli al-Ka’bah (مُتَوَسِّدٌ بُرْدَةً لَهُ فِي ظِلِّ الْكَعْبَةِ) — reclining in the shade of the Ka’bah using his cloak as a pillow; the Prophet ﷺ is in the sacred centre, resting, while the companions come frantic with persecution. The calmness of his posture is not indifference — it is the measure of the distance between human pace and divine timeline
- Ala tastansiru lana (أَلَا تَسْتَنْصِرُ لَنَا؟) — will you not seek help for us? Istansar — to seek help, to ask for victory. The companions want the external reality to change — the persecution to end, the relief to come
- Ala tadu’ lana (أَلَا تَدْعُو لَنَا؟) — will you not make du’a for us? They want the Prophet ﷺ to ask Allah specifically for them, to intercede in the divine court on their behalf
- Qad kana man qablakum (قَدْ كَانَ مَنْ قَبْلَكُمْ) — there was among those before you; the Prophet ﷺ does not answer their request immediately. Instead, he takes them out of their present moment and into history — to people who also suffered for their faith, and even more severely
- Yu’khadhu al-rajul (يُؤْخَذُ الرَّجُلُ) — the man would be taken; passive voice — seized, not going willingly. The persecution is not courted — it comes unsought
- Yuhafru lahu fi al-ard (يُحْفَرُ لَهُ فِي الأرْضِ) — a pit would be dug for him in the earth; the earth opens beneath him, he is placed inside, and the world above becomes his roof. The persecution is spatial, enclosing, isolating
- Yuj’alu fiha (فَيُجْعَلُ فِيهَا) — he would be placed inside; deliberate, almost ceremonial placement. The world rearranges itself to accommodate his suffering
- Yu’ta bil-manshar (يُؤْتَى بِالْمِنْشَارِ) — a saw would be brought; the iron instrument is brought, not improvised. The hostility is organised, not ad hoc
- Yuwdaju ‘ala ra’sihi (فَيُوضَعُ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ) — placed on his head; the core, the crown, the place of identity and thought is the first point of contact. The persecution does not start at the extremities
- Yuj’al nisfayn (فَيُجْعَلُ نِصْفَيْنِ) — he would be split in two; absolute division — not merely wounded, but halved. The person becomes two pieces. The Prophet ﷺ does not soften the image
- Yumshatu bi-amsihati al-hadid ma dun lahmih wa ‘azmih (يُمْشَطُ بِأمْشَاطِ الْحَدِيدِ مَا دُونَ لَحْمِهِ وَعَظْمِهِ) — he would be combed with iron combs down to his flesh and bone; the combs drag repeatedly, going over and over, beneath the skin to the flesh and bone. The suffering is not a single strike — it is ongoing, textured, relentless
- Ma yasudduhu dhalika ‘an dinhi (مَا يَصُدُّهُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ دِينِهِ) — that would not turn him away from his religion; the subjunctive form — that would not turn him, that would not move him from his faith. The persecution is insufficent to move him from where he stands
- Wal-lahi layutimanna Allahu hadha al-amr (وَاللَّهِ ليُتِمَّنَّ اللَّهُ هَذَا الأمْرَ) — and by Allah, Allah will surely complete this matter; wal-lahi — oath by Allah. The completion is not vaguely hoped — it is categorically guaranteed
- Hatta yaseerar rakiibu min San’an ila Hadramawt (حَتَّى يَسِيرَ الرَّاكِبُ مِنْ صَنْعَاءَ إِلَى حَضْرَمَوْتَ) — until a rider travels from San’a’ to Hadramawt; specific places, real route, concrete image — not symbolic language. The rider is an ordinary person, the journey is real
- La yakhafu illa Allah wa al-dhi’ba ‘ala ghanamihi (لاَ يَخَافُ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَالذِّئْبَ عَلَى غَنَمِهِ) — fearing only Allah and the wolf over his sheep; the fear of Allah is the only legitimate fear. The only other fear is the practical concern of a shepherd — the wolf over his flock. The fear of people, of persecution, of losing safety, has been stripped away
- Wa laikum ta’s’tajilun (وَلَكِنَّكُمْ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ) — but you are rushing; the Prophet ﷺ diagnoses the heart: not the suffering itself, but the impatience with the time it is taking. Ta’s’tajilun — rushing, wanting it now, wanting the completion before its appointed time
Hadith Lessons
The companions came to the Prophet ﷺ at the edge of endurance. They had been persecuted in Makkah, their bodies scarred, their lives precarious. They were asking for the Prophet ﷺ to do what he could do — seek help (istinṣār) and make du’a. The Prophet ﷺ could have said yes and ended there. Instead, he answered with a story — a story about people before them who were torn apart yet held to their deen, and a vision of a future where the religion would be so firmly established that a rider would travel from San’a’ to Hadramawt afraid only of Allah and the wolf.
He did not shame their complaint. He did not tell them to be silent. He acknowledged their pain — they came to him complaining — and then he corrected the lens through which they were seeing it. The correction was this: the matter will be completed, but not on the timetable you want. They were not wrong to want relief. They were wrong to think the relief should come at the speed their hearts demanded.
The Shade of the Ka’bah — The Calm at the Centre
The Prophet ﷺ was in the shade of the Ka’bah — the holiest place, the spiritual centre, the nexus of everything sacred in Makkah — reclining, resting, using his cloak as a pillow. The companions came to him under the weight of persecution. The contrast between his calm and their agitation is the teaching: the one who carries the entire weight of the Ummah’s affairs is not frantic.
The leader’s posture is not a denial of the suffering. It is the measure of the difference between human time and divine time. The companions were living in the moment of the pit and the saw. The Prophet ﷺ saw both — the pit and the rider on the road, the immediate persecution and the distant completion. The rider would not be travelling if the men in the pits had turned away. The riders represent the result of the men who held.
The Past as a Mirror for the Present
The Prophet ﷺ did not tell them: you are suffering more than anyone before you. He told them the opposite: those before you were torn in half and combed with iron — and that did not turn them from their religion. The message is not comparative suffering. It is comparative principle: the same force that kept them on the deen — their firmness in the face of the unimaginable — is available to you in the face of the intense but smaller suffering you are enduring.
Those people did not see the rider travelling from San’a’ to Hadramawt. They saw only the pit, the saw, the iron combs. The Prophet ﷺ sees both — the present persecution and the future completion — and he aligns the companions’ vision with that of the people before them. The principle stands: hold in the pit, and the road will be completed.
The Oath — And the Diagnosis
“Wal-lahi layutimanna Allahu hadha al-amr…” — and by Allah, Allah will surely complete this matter. The oath is the guarantee. The completion is certain. The riders will travel from San’a’ to Hadramawt. The fear of people will be gone. The only legitimate fear will be the fear of Allah.
But then the pivot: “wa laikum ta’s’tajilun” — but you are rushing. The Prophet ﷺ diagnoses the heart. The issue is not the suffering. The issue is the impatience with waiting for the completion to unfold. The matter is unfolding; it will be completed. But the riders are not ready yet. The patience required to carry the religion through to completion is not optional — it is the engine of the future.
The scholars of tarbiyah note that this is the precise description of human difficulty: the believer does not doubt the truth. They do not doubt the promise of completion. They doubt the timeline. They want relief now, victory now, explanation now, comfort now. The Prophet ﷺ names that desire as ta’s’tajilun — rushing. The cure is not less suffering; it is more patience with the time.
Three Questions to Close With
- The Prophet ﷺ did not dismiss the companions’ complaint — he redirected it. Is there a persecution or difficulty in my life where I am not mistaken for wanting relief, but where I am rushing the timeline and expecting the completion before its time?
- The image of the rider from San’a’ to Hadramawt traveling fearlessly is the future of this matter. What present difficulty of mine might be the pit and the saw that will produce a future where I, too, travel a road without the fear I carry now?
- The Prophet ﷺ accuses them of rushing, not of weakness. Am I harming my patience more by wanting relief quickly than by the relief itself not arriving?