Some Jews said to a group of the Prophet's companions ﷺ, "Does your prophet know how many keepers Hell has?"They replied, "We do not know until we ask him."Then a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Muhammad, your companions were bested today."The Prophet asked, "How were they bested?"He said, "The Jews asked them, 'Does your prophet know how many keepers Hell has?'"The Prophet asked, "And what did they say?"He replied, "They said, 'We do not know until we ask our prophet.'"The Prophet said, "Are people bested when they are asked about something they do not know, and they answer, 'We do not know until we ask our prophet'? Yet they themselves once asked their prophet and said, 'Show us Allah plainly' [Nisa 4:153]. Bring the enemies of Allah to me. I will ask them about the soil of Paradise, which is fine white flour."When they came, they said, "Abu Qasim, how many keepers does Hell have?"He said, "This many and this many," gesturing ten with one motion and nine with another.They said, "Yes, that is right."The Prophet ﷺ then asked them, "What is the soil of Paradise?"They kept silent for a while, then said, "Bread, Abu Qasim."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Bread is made from fine white flour."
قال ناس من اليهود لأناس من أصحاب النبي ﷺ: هل يعلم نبيكم كم عدد خزنة جهنم؟ قالوا: لا ندري حتى نسأله، فجاء رجل إلى النبي ﷺ، فقال: يا محمد، غلب أصحابك اليوم. قال: وبم غلبوا؟ قال: سألهم يهود: هل يعلم نبيكم كم عدد خزنة جهنم؟ قال: فما قالوا؟ قال: قالوا: لا ندري حتى نسأل نبينا. قال: أفغلب قوم سئلوا عما لا يعلمون؟ فقالوا: لا نعلم حتى نسأل نبينا، لكنهم قد سألوا نبيهم، فقالوا: {أرنا الله جهرة}[النساء: ١٥٣]، علي بأعداء الله، إني سائلهم عن تربة الجنة، وهي الدرمك، فلما جاؤوا قالوا: يا أبا القاسم، كم عدد خزنة جهنم؟ قال: هكذا وهكذا في مرة عشرة، وفي مرة تسعة قالوا: نعم، قال لهم النبي ﷺ: ما تربة الجنة؟ قال: فسكتوا هنيهة، ثم قالوا: خبزة يا أبا القاسم، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: الخبز من الدرمك.
Tirmidhi (3327) narrated it, and this is his wording, and Ahmad (14883) also narrated it, both via Sufyan, who is Ibn Uyayna, from Mujalid, from Shaybi, from Jabir, who mentioned it.Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith, we only know it through this route, from the hadith of Mujalid."Mujalid is Ibn Saeed Hamdani, and he is not strong.Abu Naeem narrated it in Sifat al-Jannah (152) via Ibn Abu Najeeh, from Zubayr bin Musa, from his father, from Jabir, limited to his statement,"The Prophet ﷺ was asked about the ground of Paradise, and he said, 'A white loaf of bread.'"In the chain is Musa bin Sina, the father of Zubayr, who is unknown.With the two chains combined, the hadith rises to the level of hasan.