Reconciling the number of the keepers of Hell with the hadith of the reins
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the reconciliation between the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Muddaththir 74:30], and what was reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that Hell will be brought on the Day of Resurrection Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2573Sahih (Darussalam)?
Answer:
They drag it, my brother. As for the hadith, seventy thousand angels drag it; these are the ones who drag it. As for the nineteen, these are its keepers.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the reconciliation between the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Over it are nineteen [angels].
عَلَيْهَا تِسْعَةَ عَشَرَwith every handle will be seventy thousand angels
مع كل زمام سبعون ألف ملكAnswer:
They drag it, my brother. As for the hadith, seventy thousand angels drag it; these are the ones who drag it. As for the nineteen, these are its keepers.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، الباب الثاني في ذكر حقيقة مرض القلب — islamhouse.com (56:37)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.