In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The life of the salaf between word and deed.
The state of the salaf at the time of death.
Stories and accounts.
When Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, was on his deathbed,
'A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, came to him,
And she recited this line of poetry:
"He whose tears are held back today,
Will surely have them shed one day."
Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, replied,
"Nay, rather: 'And the agony of death will bring the truth.'"
“And the agony of death cometh in truth. (And it is said unto him): This is that which thou wast wont to shun.” (50:19)
And it is narrated that Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
"The head of 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, was resting on my lap,
During the illness in which he passed away.
He said to me, 'Place my head on the ground.'
I replied,
'What difference does it make whether it is on my lap or on the ground?'
He said, 'Place it on the ground.'
So I placed it on the ground.
He then said, 'Woe to me, and woe to my mother,
If my Lord does not forgive me.'"
The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, sent
Seventy of the reciters to the tribe of Banu 'Amir.
When they arrived,
Haram Ibn Milhan, may Allah be pleased with him, said to them,
"Shall I go ahead of you?
If they grant me safety so that I may convey to them the message of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
Then you will be near me; otherwise, you will be close enough to support me."
He went ahead, and they granted him safety.
While he was speaking to them about the Prophet, peace be upon him,
They signaled to a man among them,
Who stabbed him and pierced him through.
He took the blood like this,
And sprinkled it over his face and head,
Then said,
"Allah is the Greatest! I have succeeded, by the Lord of the Ka'bah."
And from Ziyad, the freed slave of Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, it is narrated:
"A man told me that he visited Hudhayfah Ibn al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with him,
During the illness in which he died.
He said,
'Were it not that I see this day as the last of the days of this world,
And the first of the days of the Hereafter,
I would not have spoken of this.'
'O Allah, You know that I preferred poverty over wealth,
And I preferred humility over honor,
And I preferred death over life.'
'A beloved one has come in a time of need.'
'He who regrets will not prosper.'
Then he passed away, may Allah have mercy on him.
And from Salam Ibn Bashir Ibn Hajl, who said:
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, wept during his illness.
It was said to him,
"What makes you weep, O Abu Hurayrah?"
He said,
"I do not weep for this world of yours,
But I weep for the length of my journey and the scarcity of my provisions.
I have reached a point of ascent that leads either to Paradise or to Hell,
And I do not know which of the two I will be led to."
And when Abu al-Darda', may Allah be pleased with him, was on his deathbed,
He began to say,
"Who will work for a day like this of mine?
Who will work for a resting place like this of mine?"
Abu Musa al-Ash'ari, may Allah be pleased with him, exerted himself intensely before his death.
It was said to him,
"If only you would stop and be gentle with yourself."
He said,
"When a horse is released and nears the end of its race,
It exerts all the strength it has left.
And what remains of my lifespan is even less than that."
When death approached Mu'awiyah, may Allah be pleased with him,
They were moving him around in the palace.
He said,
"Have we reached the Green Palace yet?"
His daughter, Ramlah, cried out.
He said,
"Why do you cry?"
She said,
"We are moving you around in the Green Palace,
And you are asking if we have reached the Green Palace yet?"
He said,
"If your father's mind has wandered, he has long been dignified."
And when death descended upon him, he said,
"I wish I had been a man from the Quraysh at Dhi Tuwa,
And that I had not taken on any of this affair."
Bilal, may Allah be pleased with him, said when death approached him,
"Tomorrow we shall meet the beloved,
Muhammad and his party."
His wife said,
"Woe is me!"
He said,
"What joy!"
Salman al-Farisi, may Allah be pleased with him, wept at the time of death.
It was said, "What makes you weep?"
He said,
"I do not weep out of greed for your world,
Nor out of fear of death,
But because of the scarcity of my provisions and the distance of the journey."
Anas Ibn Sirin said,
"I witnessed Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, when death approached him,
And he began to say,
'Prompt me to say: There is no god but Allah.'
He did not cease saying it until his soul was taken."
Ibrahim al-Nakha'i, may Allah have mercy on him, wept at his death.
It was said to him, "What makes you weep?"
He said,
"I am waiting for a messenger from Allah to give me glad tidings of Paradise or of the Fire."
When 'Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Aswad, may Allah have mercy on him, was on his deathbed, he wept.
It was said to him, "What makes you weep?"
He said,
"Sorrow for the fasting and the prayer."
And he continued to recite the Qur'an until he died.
Death came to one of the righteous men, may Allah have mercy on him,
And he wept.
It was said to him,
"Why do you weep?
It is only the world you have always known."
He said,
"It is not for that which I weep,
But by Allah, I weep for the loss of the remembrance of Allah and the gatherings of its people."
When 'Amir Ibn 'Abd Allah, may Allah have mercy on him, was on his deathbed, he wept.
It was said, "What makes you weep?"
He said,
"I do not weep out of fear of death nor out of desire for the world,
But I weep for the thirst of the hot summer days and the standing in prayer during the winter nights."
Ibn 'Awn, may Allah have mercy on him, used to say at the time of death,
"The Sunnah, the Sunnah!
And beware of innovations."
Until he died.
And from Muhammad Ibn Thabit al-Bunani, may Allah have mercy on him, who said:
"I went to prompt my father at the time of death,
And he said,
'O my son, leave me be,
For I am in my seventh recitation [of the Qur'an].'
It was as if he were reciting while his soul was departing."
Death came to a man from the people of Madinah,
And he became distressed.
It was said to him, "Are you distressed?"
He said,
"And why should I not be distressed?
By Allah, if the messenger of the governor of Madinah were to come to me, I would be fearful of that,
So how about the messenger of the Lord of the worlds?"
When death approached Shaykh al-Kasani, may Allah have mercy on him,
He began reciting Surah Ibrahim,
Until he reached the saying of Allah the Exalted:
“Allah confirmeth those who believe by a firm saying in the life of the world and in the Hereafter, and Allah sendeth wrong-doers astray. And Allah doeth what He will.” (14:27)
His soul departed as he finished saying, "and in the Hereafter."
The life of the salaf between word and deed.