"The Holy (city) — thrown a stone's throw away." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Had I been there, I would have shown you his grave, by the side of the road, beneath the red sand-hill."(1)

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(1) Its narrators are trustworthy, except that there is a difference of opinion regarding whether it is stopped (mawqūf) or raised (marfūʿ), as will follow.

Some narrated it — as here, and in Aḥmad (7646), al-Bukhārī (1339) and (3407), and Muslim (2372): (157) — from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Ibn Ṭāwūs — who is ʿAbd Allāh — from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, as a stopped narration (mawqūf).

Others narrated it — as in the "Muṣannaf of ʿAbd al-Razzāq" (20530) via the narration of al-Dabarī, and in Ibn Ḥibbān (6223) — from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Ibn Ṭāwūs, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, as a raised narration (marfūʿ).

It was also narrated — as in Aḥmad (8172), al-Bukhārī following ḥadīth (3407), Muslim (2372): (158), and Ibn Ḥibbān (6224) — from ʿAbd al-Razzāq, from Maʿmar, from Hammām ibn Munabbih, from Abū Hurayrah, as a raised narration (marfūʿ).

Ibn Lahīʿah narrated it — as in Aḥmad (8616) — from Abū Yūnus Sulaym ibn Jubayr, from Abū Hurayrah, as a stopped narration (mawqūf).

Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated it — as in Aḥmad (10904) and (10905) — from ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, from Abū Hurayrah, as a raised narration (marfūʿ), and at its beginning there is an objectionable addition, namely his saying: "The Angel of Death used to come to people openly."

Al-Sindī said: His saying: "He sent the Angel of Death" ... etc. — his name has not been mentioned in any raised narration (marfūʿ), and it is reported from Wahb ibn Munabbih that his name is ʿAzrāʾīl. "Ṣakkahu" i.e., slapped him. "Faqaʾa" i.e., split. "Matan thawr": it is the back. "Thumma mah" — it is the interrogative "mā," its alif was deleted, and the pausal hāʾ was appended to it, meaning: "What then?"

"An yudniyah" — from al-idnāʾ, i.e., to bring him near. "Ramyatan" i.e., the distance of a stone's throw. "Fa-law kuntu thumma" i.e., there. "Al-kathīb": the accumulated sand.