Man's Spirit
- philhoraia
- Jun 13
- 4 min read
In this post I provide four ahadith telling us of the spirit's being blown into the fetus. I provide my own translation of each of them going by the vocalisation in the texts.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Rabīʿi told us, Abū al-Aḥwaṣ told us, from Al-ʿAmash, from Zayd b. Wahb, ʿAbdullah said: Allah's messenger [SAW], and he is the truthful, the believed, told us, he said:
One of you, his creation is gathered in his mother's belly for 40 days, then as a clot like that, then as a gobbet like that, then Allah sends an angel, and he is commanded four words, and he says to him: Write down his work, his provision, his term, whether he be wretched or happy. Then the spirit is blown into him, so let the man among you work until there is nothing between him and the Jannah but a cubit, then his book prevails over him, and he acts with the work of the people of the fire, and he acts until there is nothing between him and the fire but a cubit, and the book prevails over him, and he acts with the work of the people of the Jannah.
So, a human being spends 40 days in the womb (as a drop of semen) followed by 40 days as a blood clot followed by another 40 days as a gobbet. Total=120 days. Then Allah sends an angel who is commanded to write down four things. But is he told what they are, or does he know? Then the spirit is blown into him. Whence, we are not told. He is to 'work' until there's but a cubit between him and the Jannah and the fire respectively, and his 'book', apparently his record, prevails over him and he does the deeds of the denizens of the Jannah and of hell respectively.
Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-Namarī told us, Shuʿbah told us, ح and Muḥammad ibn Kathīr told us, Sufyān reported to us,--Sufyān reported to us,--and the meaning is one and the report is in Sufyān's hadith--from Al-ʿAmash, he said, Zayd ibn Masʿud told us, he said, Allah's messenger [SAW], and he is the truthful, the believed, told us: The creation of one of you is gathered in his mother's belly for 40 days then he is a clot like that then he is a gobbet like that then an angel is sent to him and he is commanded four words and his provision, his term and his work are written down, then is written down "Wretched or happy", then the spirit is blown into him. So one of you acts with the work of the people of the Jannah until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit or the length of a cubit, and the book prevails over him and he acts with the work of the people of the fire and he enters it and one of you acts with the work of the people of the fire until there is nothing but a cubit or the length of a cubit. So the book prevails over him and he acts with the work of the people of the Jannah and he enters it.
Regarding the letter ح, " In hadith chains, the letter ح (ḥāʾ) is a technical symbol meaning “ḥawālah” or “ḥīlah”, and it indicates a switch to another chain of narration. It tells the reader that the author is moving from one isnād to another for the same hadith." (Microsoft Copilot)
From Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥman ʿAbdullah ibn Masʿūd, [SAW], he said: Allah's messenger SAW]--and he is the truthful, the believed, told us--: one of you, his creation is gathered in his mother's belly for 40 days as a drop, then he is a clot like that, then he is a gobbet like that, then the angel is sent to him and he blows the spirit into him, and he is commanded four words: his provision, his term, whether he be wretched or happy, and by Allah, besides whom there is no god, that one of you acts with the work of the people of the Jannah until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit then the book prevails over him and he acts with the work of the people of the fire and he enters it. And one of you acts with the work of the people of the fire until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit and the book prevails over him and he acts with the work of the people of the Jannah and he enters it.
ʿUmar ibn Ḥafs told us, my father told us, Al-Aʿmash told us, Zayd ibn Wahb told us, ʿAbdullah told us, Allah's messenger [SAW] told us, and he is the truthful, the believed, "One of you is gathered in his mother's belly for 40 days, then he is a clot like that, then he is a gobbet like that, then Allah sends an angel to him with four words, then are written down his work, his term, whether he be wretched or happy, then the spirit is blown into him, and the man acts with the work of the people of the fire until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit, then the book prevails over him and he acts with the work of the people of the Jannah, and he enters the Jannah, and the man acts with the work of the people of the Jannah, until there is nothing between him and it but a cubit then the book prevails over him, and he acts with the work of the people of the fire and he enters the fire."
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