Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
muslim:2643b[Chain 1] ʿUthmān b. Abū Shaybah And ʾIsḥāq b. Ibrāhīm > Jarīr b. ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd [Chain 2] Isḥāq b. Ibrāhīm > ʿĪsá b. Yūnus [Chain 3] Abū Saʿīd al-Ashaj > Wakīʿ [Chain 4] ʿUbaydullāh b. Muʿādh from my father > Shuʿbah b. al-Ḥajjāj > al-Aʿmash Bihadhā al-Isnād

" The creation of any one of you is like this that (semen) is collected in the womb of the mother for forty nights," and in the hadith transmitted on the authority of Shu'ba (the words are):" Forty nights and forty days." And in the hadith transmitted on the authority of Jarir and 'Isa (the words are):" Forty days."  

مسلم:٢٦٤٣bحَدَّثَنَا عُثْمَانُ بْنُ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ وَإِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ كِلاَهُمَا عَنْ جَرِيرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ الْحَمِيدِ ح وَحَدَّثَنَا إِسْحَاقُ بْنُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ أَخْبَرَنَا عِيسَى بْنُ يُونُسَ ح وَحَدَّثَنِي أَبُو سَعِيدٍ الأَشَجُّ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ ح وَحَدَّثَنَاهُ عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ مُعَاذٍ حَدَّثَنَا أَبِي حَدَّثَنَا شُعْبَةُ بْنُ الْحَجَّاجِ كُلُّهُمْ عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ بِهَذَا الإِسْنَادِ قَالَ

فِي حَدِيثِ وَكِيعٍ إِنَّ خَلْقَ أَحَدِكُمْ يُجْمَعُ فِي بَطْنِ أُمِّهِ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً وَقَالَ فِي حَدِيثِ مُعَاذٍ عَنْ شُعْبَةَ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا وَأَمَّا فِي حَدِيثِ جَرِيرٍ وَعِيسَى أَرْبَعِينَ يَوْمًا