Sayyed Ibn Tawus relates from the book Zuhdan Nabi of Abu Ja’far Ahmad al-Qummi that, “When the two verses of the Qur’an were revealed: ‘And verily hell is certainly the promised abode for them all. For it (the hell) are seven gates, and for each of those (gates) will be a separate party (of the sinners) assigned’, the Prophet wept abundantly such that his companions also wept upon seeing him. However, the companions could not understand why the Prophet wept, and none could question him beholding his state.
It was the habit of the Prophet that whenever he saw Fatimah, he was delighted, and thus one of the companions went to Fatimah to bring her to the Prophet. When he reached her house, he saw that she was grinding barley in the mill and reciting the following verse of the Qur’an, ‘And what is with Allah is better and more lasting.’ The man went and saluted her and informed her about the Prophet’s lamentation. Immediately Fatimah stood up, put on a worn-out veil which contained twelve patches of the leaves of date palms, and came outside.
When Salman’s sight fell upon her, he wept and said, ‘O the grief! The daughters of Caesers (Roman kings) and Chosroes (Persian kings) adorn dresses of brocade and silk, while the daughter of the Prophet wears a worn-out and patched veil!’
Fatimah came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Prophet of Allah! Salman is surprised at my dress, when by the Lord Who has chosen you by truth, five years have passed since we use a sheet made of sheep’s hide, we sleep upon it at nights, and during the day we turn it and lay leaves for the camels to eat, while our pillow is also made from the leaves of date-palm.’ The Prophet turned towards Salman and said, ‘Verily my daughter is among the foremost ones in the eyes of Allah.’
Fatimah then asked the Prophet, ‘O dear father, may I be your ransom! Why do you weep?’ The Prophet recited the above verses revealed by Jibra’il. When Fatimah heard the name of hell, she fell down prostrating upon the ground and constantly repeated, ‘Woe, and woe upon those who enter the fire of hell.’
When Salman heard the verse he said, ‘I wish I would have been a sheep, my family would have slaughtered me and torn my hide and I would not have heard the name of hell.’ Abu Dharr said, ‘I wish my mother was barren and had not given birth to me so that I could not have heard the name of hell.’ Miqdad said, ‘I wish I was a bird in the forest, then I would have been free from accounting and not heard the name of hell.’ Imam ‘Ali said, ‘I wish the beasts would tear my flesh and I wish my mother had not borne me so that I would not have heard the name of hell.’
Saying this, the Prophet put his hand upon his head and wept, then said, ‘O the lengthy journey! And O the insufficient belongings for the journey of the resurrection! The people (sinful ones) will go towards the fire and the fire shall turn them over. They are the sick persons that none visits them, and are the injured ones that none goes to heal their wounds. They are the imprisoned ones that none goes to rescue them from the fire, while their food and drink is from the fire. They shall turn upside down in the large vessels filled with fire. They adorn cotton clothes in this world while their dress in hell shall be of pieces of fire. They embrace their spouses in this world, while in hell the satans will embrace them.’”