Two graves and two small things
He said it, and then did something about it.
إِنَّهُمَا لَيُعَذَّبَانِ، وَمَا يُعَذَّبَانِ فِي كَبِيرٍ، أَمَّا هَذَا فَكَانَ لاَ يَسْتَتِرُ مِنْ بَوْلِهِ، وَأَمَّا هَذَا فَكَانَ يَمْشِي بِالنَّمِيمَةِ
Innahumā la-yuʿadhdhabān, wa mā yuʿadhdhabāni fī kabīr. Ammā hādhā fa-kāna lā yastatiru min bawlih, wa ammā hādhā fa-kāna yamshī bi-n-namīmah
“They are being punished, and they are not being punished for something major. This one did not keep himself clean of his urine, and this one used to walk about carrying tales.”
Where this comes from
Then he called for a fresh palm branch, split it in two, and planted one on each grave, and said: perhaps it will be lightened for them as long as these do not dry out. In another narration he corrects the phrase: and it is indeed major.
The full narration
Narrated Ibn `Abbas:Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) passed by two graves and said, "Both of them (persons in the grave) are being tortured, and they are not being tortured for a major sin. This one used not to save himself from being soiled with his urine, and the other used to go about with calumnies (among the people to rouse hostilities, e.g., one goes to a person and tells him that so-and-so says about him such-and-such evil things). The Prophet (ﷺ) then asked for a green leaf of a date-palm tree, split it into two pieces and planted one on each grave and said, "It is hoped that their punishment may be abated till those two pieces of the leaf get dried." (See Hadith No 215, Vol)
Source
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī · 6052
- Agreed upon as authentic (al-Bukhārī / Muslim)