except a single cloth—and Musʿab ibn ʿUmayr was also killed, and nothing could be found to wrap him in but one garment. I fear that our good things have been sped up for us in this present world.’ He then wept (1).
Ibn Isḥāq said: Yazīd ibn Ziyād related to me, from al-Quraẓī (2), from someone who heard ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib say:
‘He once hauled water for a Jew’s orchard in return for a mere handful of dates.
He continued: I then went to the mosque, and there came upon us Musʿab ibn ʿUmayr wearing a cloak of his that had been patched with fur. He had been the most pampered and comfortable youth in Mecca. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saw him, he recalled the luxury in which he had lived and observed the condition he was now in; his eyes overflowed with tears for him. Then he said, “Are you better today, or on the day when each of you is served in the morning with a dish of bread and meat?”
We replied, “We are better today, for our basic needs are met and we are free to devote ourselves to worship.”
He said, “No. You are better today than you will be on that day.” (3)
(1) Related by al-Bukhari, nos. 1274 and 1275 (Book of Funerals, chapter: “The shroud is taken from the deceased’s whole estate”), through the isnad Shuʿba – Saʿd b. Ibrahim – his father Ibrahim, that ʿAbd al-Rahman b. ʿAwf was brought food while he was fasting. He said: “Musab b. ʿUmayr, who was better than I, was killed and was shrouded in a mantle; if his head was covered, his feet showed, and if his feet were covered, his head showed. I think he also said: and Hamza, who was better than I, was killed. Yet the world has been spread out for us—or he said: we have been given of this world what we have been given—and we fear that our good deeds have been brought forward for us here.” He then wept until he left the food untouched. Al-Bukhari also records it under no. 4045 (Book of Military Expeditions, chapter: The Expedition of Uhud).
(2) “al-Qurazi” is a nisba to Banu Qurayza; it refers to Muhammad b. Kaʿb. In the printed edition it has been corrupted to “al-Qurtubi.”
(3) Related by al-Tirmidhi, no. 2478 (description of the Resurrection, chapter: The condition of Musab b. ʿUmayr after accepting Islam). Al-Tirmidhi rates it “hasan gharib.” Yazid b. Ziyad, the mawla of Banu Makhzum, is reliable, and the remaining transmitters are trustworthy, except for the unnamed intermediary between Muhammad b. Kaʿb and Ali, who is unknown. The report is also cited by Ibn Saʿd, 3/1/82, and by Ibn al-Athir in Usd al-ghaba, 5/182. Al-Hakim records it as well, 3/628, through Musa b. Ubayda al-Rabadhi—who is weak—from his brother ʿAbd Allah b. Ubayda, from ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr, from his father, with similar wording.