Cutting of the Nails

Abu Wasil narrates, “I once met Hazrat Abu Ayub Ansari (ra) and shook his hand and noticing that my nails were very long he said that the Holy Prophet (sa) once stated, ‘There are some among you who ask about heavenly matters and yet their nails are so long like the claws of a pigeon that impurity and filth begins to gather in it.’”

(Ahmad bin Hanbal, Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal, Vol. 7, Musnad Abu Ayub Ansari, Hadith 23938 [Beirut, Lebanon: Alam al-Kutub, 1998], 775)

In other words, they would ask highly intellectual question and yet their condition was such that their nails were extremely long. Since filth begins to gather in them, therefore one should cut their nails. This is a narration from Musnad Ahmad bin Hanbal.