that I see you unkempt and covered in dust ever since the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away? Perhaps what troubles you is the authority given to your cousin—meaning Abu Bakr.”
He replied, “Allah forbid! I heard him say, ‘I know a word that no one on the verge of death ever pronounces except that his soul finds ease in it as it departs his body, and it will be a light for him on the Day of Resurrection.’ I did not ask the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, about it, nor did he tell me what it was; that is what distresses me.”
ʿUmar said, “I know it.”
He said, “Praise be to Allah! What is it, then?”
He answered, “It is the word he said to his uncle.”
He said, “You have spoken the truth.(1)
Abū Muʿāwiyah and others narrated to us: Abū Mālik al-Ashjaʿī, from Abū Ḥabībah(2), a freedman of Talḥa, who said:
I entered upon ʿAlī together with ʿImrān ibn Talḥa after the Battle of the Camel. He welcomed him warmly, drew him close, and then said, “I hope that Allah will make me…"
(1) Mujalid is a weak transmitter; nevertheless the report itself is authentic. Ibn Hibban (no. 2) records it through the chain: Misar → Ismail ibn Abi Khalid → al-Shabi → Yahya ibn Talha → his mother Sa‘da al-Muriyya, who said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab passed by Talha after the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and found him dejected. He asked, “Has the rule of your cousin upset you?” Talha replied, “No, but I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ‘I certainly know a word which, when a servant pronounces it at the moment of death, it becomes a light for his record, and his body and soul find relief through it while dying.’ The Prophet was taken before I could ask him what that word was.” ʿUmar said, “I can think of no other word than the one he urged his uncle to utter. Had he known anything that would save him more than that, he would have commanded him to say it.” All the narrators in this chain are reliable.
Ahmad, 1/161, also transmits the hadith through Asbat → Mutarrif → ʿAmir → Yahya ibn Talha → his father Talha, who related: ʿUmar saw Talha ibn ʿUbayd Allah in low spirits and asked, “What is the matter, Abu So-and-so? Has the rule of your cousin distressed you?” Talha answered, “No, but I once heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say a hadith, and nothing prevented me from asking him about it except my inability until he passed away. I heard him declare: ‘I certainly know a word which, when a servant says it at the moment of death, his face will shine with its light and Allah will ease his agony.’” ʿUmar said, “I know what that word is.” Talha asked, “What is it?” He replied, “Can you think of any word greater than the one he ordered his uncle to say at death? La ilaha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah).” Talha said, “You are right, by Allah; that is indeed the word.” The isnad is sound. Al-Hakim (1/350-351) declared it authentic and al-Dhahabi agreed.
(2) In the printed edition the name has been misread as “Habisha.”