39. The Book of Greetings
٣٩۔ كتاب السلام
That he heard the Prophet ﷺ delivering a sermon on the pulpit saying, "Kill snakes and kill Dhu-at- Tufyatain (i.e. a snake with two white lines on its back) and Al-Abtar (i.e. a snake with short or mutilated tail) for they destroy the sight of one's eyes and bring about abortion." (ʿAbdullah bin ʿUmar further added): Once while I was chasing a snake in order, to kill it, Abu Lubaba called me saying: "Don't kill it," I said. "Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered us to kill snakes." He said, "But later on he prohibited the killing of snakes living in the houses." (Az-Zuhri said. "Such snakes are called Al-Awamir.")
أَنَّهُ سَمِعَ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ يَخْطُبُ عَلَى الْمِنْبَرِ يَقُولُ اقْتُلُوا الْحَيَّاتِ وَاقْتُلُوا ذَا الطُّفْيَتَيْنِ وَالأَبْتَرَ فَإِنَّهُمَا يَطْمِسَانِ الْبَصَرَ وَيَسْتَسْقِطَانِ الْحَبَلَ قَالَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ فَبَيْنَا أَنَا أُطَارِدُ حَيَّةً لأَقْتُلَهَا فَنَادَانِي أَبُو لُبَابَةَ لاَ تَقْتُلْهَا فَقُلْتُ إِنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَدْ أَمَرَ بِقَتْلِ الْحَيَّاتِ قَالَ إِنَّهُ نَهَى بَعْدَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ ذَوَاتِ الْبُيُوتِ وَهْىَ الْعَوَامِرُ
While we were with Messenger of Allah ﷺ in a cave, Surat "Wal Mursalat" was revealed to him and we received it directly from his mouth as soon as he had received the revelation. Suddenly a snake came out and Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Get at it and kill it!" We ran to kill it but it outstripped us. Allah's Apostle said, "It has escaped your evil, as you too, have escaped its."
عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بَيْنَا نَحْنُ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فِي غَارٍ إِذْ نَزَلَتْ عَلَيْهِ وَالْمُرْسَلاَتِ فَتَلَقَّيْنَاهَا مِنْ فِيهِ وَإِنَّ فَاهُ لَرَطْبٌ بِهَا إِذْ خَرَجَتْ حَيَّةٌ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَيْكُمُ اقْتُلُوهَا قَالَ فَابْتَدَرْنَاهَا فَسَبَقَتْنَا قَالَ فَقَالَ وُقِيَتْ شَرَّكُمْ كَمَا وُقِيتُمْ شَرَّهَا