Hadith #504

Arabic Text

English Translation

Yunus narrated to us, Layth narrated to us, from Ibn 'Ajlan, from Sayfi, from Abu Sa'id, the freed slave of the Ansar, from Abu al-Sa'ib who said: I came to Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (رضي الله عنه), and while I was sitting with him, I heard a rustling under his bed. I looked and there was a snake. I stood up to kill it, but Abu Sa'id gestured to me to sit down. When he finished, he pointed to a room in the house and said: Do you see this room? I said: Yes. He said: There was a young man in it who was newly married. We went out with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to the Battle of the Trench. The young man would ask permission from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at midday to go to his wife. One day he asked permission, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'Take your weapon with you, for I fear the Banu Qurayzah may harm you.' The man took his weapon and went, and found his wife standing between the two doors. He raised his spear to strike her, but she said: Do not hasten until you see what drove me out. He entered and found a huge snake coiled on the bed. He stabbed it with his spear and went out, planting the spear in the ground. The snake writhed on the spear, and the young man fell dead. We mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he said: 'When you see snakes in your homes, say: I adjure you by the covenant of Nuh, and I adjure you by the covenant of Sulayman, do not harm us. If they return, then kill them.'