When the verse: “And surely Hell is the promised place of them all. It has seven gates; for every gate there shall be a separate party of them”8 was revealed to the Noble Prophet (S), he wept so intensely that it made his companions weep too, but none knew what it was that Jibra`il had revealed which had made the Noble Prophet (S) wail in such a fashion.
One of the companions went to Fatimah (as) and informed her of the incident. Covering herself with her cloak, which was patched in twelve places by means of date palm leaves, she came out of the house. When Salman Farsi’s eyes fell upon the cloak, he looked at it in amazement and then, bursting into tears, said to himself: “The emperors of Rome and Iran attire themselves in silken and gold-embroidered clothes but the daughter of the Noble Prophet (S) covers herself with such a cloak!”
When Fatimah (as) came to the Noble Prophet (S), he said to Salman: “My daughter belongs to a group that has taken great precedence in subservience and obedience (to Allah).” Fatimah (as) then asked, “Father! What was it that made you grieve?”
The Noble Prophet (S) recited the verses which had been brought by Jibra`il. The mention of Hell and the punishment of the fire left her so distraught that her knees failed to hold her weight and she collapsed onto the floor saying, “Woe unto he who enters the fire.”
“O’ I wish I had been a sheep that was eaten and my skin had been torn apart so that I would never have had to hear of the fire of Hell,” uttered Salman.
“O’ I wish my mother had never given birth to me so that I would never have heard of the Hell-fire,” said Abu Dharr.
“I wish I was a bird in the desert so that I would not have had Reckoning nor punishment, and would not have heard of the fire of Hell,” muttered Miqdad.
Amirul Mo’minin (as) said, “I wish the wild animals had torn me into pieces and my mother had not given birth to me so that I would not have had to hear of the Hell-fire.” Then, placing his hand upon his head, he began to cry and wailed, “Oh! How distant is the journey of the Day of Judgment! Woe to those who did not make provision for the Day of Judgement. In this journey of the Day of Judgment, they shall be led towards the fire; O’ the sick ones, who shall be in the binds of captivity and whose injuries shall never be treated. None shall step forward to untie them; fire shall be their food and water, and they shall be turned upside down in the various stations of Hell.” ( Pand-e-Tarikh, Volume 4, Page 221; Biharul Anwar, Volume 10, Page 26 )