- Marwan ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi narrated to me; al-Walid ibn Muslim transmitted it; ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir informed me that one of the defiant elders of the pre-Islamic era said, “O Muhammad, three matters have reached me that you claim; no person of sound mind ⦗61⦘ should believe you concerning them. I am told that you say the Arabs will abandon what they and their forefathers used to worship, that you will come to possess the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar, and that we will be resurrected after we die.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “By Him in whose hand is my soul: the Arabs shall indeed abandon what they and their forefathers worshipped; you shall most certainly gain the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar; and you shall surely die and then be resurrected. Moreover, I will take you by the hand on the Day of Resurrection and remind you of this statement of yours.”
The old man said, “Then do not let me go astray in death, and do not forget me.” The Prophet answered, “I will neither let you go astray among the dead nor will I forget you.”
The shaykh lived on until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, and he witnessed the Muslims’ conquest of the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar. He then embraced Islam, and his Islam was sound.
ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab would often hear him weeping in the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, moved by the promise the Prophet had given him. At times ʿUmar would approach, calm him softly, and say, “You have accepted Islam, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ promised that he would take you by the hand; and if the Messenger of Allah ﷺ takes anyone by the hand on the Day of Resurrection, that person will surely succeed and be blessed.”