Assalamu 'alaikum. What is authenticity and meaning of the Hadith (tirmidhi 2181) which says about animals and shoelaces talking. Is it literal? Like will animals actually speak?

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

We assume that you are referring to the Hadith narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri who reported Allah's Messenger, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, as saying: “By Him in whose hand my soul is, the last hour will not come before wild beasts speak to men, the end of a man's whip and the thong of his sandal speak to him, and his thigh informs him what his family have done since he left them.”

This narration was reported by At-Tirmidhi and he titled the following chapter regarding it: “Chapter of the narrations related to the speech of wild beasts”. Similarly, At-Tirmidhi graded the Hadith after reporting it as Hasan Sahih (good or sound).

Likewise, this Hadith was also narrated and graded as Sahih by Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak, and Ath-Thahabi, Al-Albani and others agreed with him (in grading it as Sahih).

Furthermore, the aforementioned was also narrated by Imam Ahmad in a longer version of the above narration which also includes the incident of a wolf’s speech to a shepherd in the time of the Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. Therefore, the Hadith is authentic and Sahih, and it clearly indicates that animals will speak, and there is nothing strange about this. Since the speech of animals was indicated and established by the Holy Quran before the Sunnah, as Allah the Almighty says: {And when the decree (of the Hour) comes to pass against them, We will bring forth for them a beast from the earth, telling them that the people had no sure faith in Our revelations.} [Quran 27:82]

Lastly, Allah the Almighty has power over all things, and He is the One Who causes all things to speak, even inanimate objects that are glorifying Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty says: {The seven heavens, the earth, and all those in them glorify Him. There is not a single thing that does not glorify His praises, but you cannot comprehend their glorification. He is indeed Most Forbearing, All-Forgiving.} [Quran 17:44]

Allah knows best.