and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān over the Bayt al-Māl (state treasury). Is there no worldly advantage in all that? My criticism of them was only because they had fallen into disbelief.

Hawdhah said: Hishām narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan, who said:
“Anas passed by me after Ziyād ibn Abīh had sent him to Abū Bakrah to remonstrate with him, so I accompanied him. We entered upon Abū Bakrah and found him ill. Mention was made to him that Ziyād had appointed his sons to office, whereupon he said, ‘Has he done anything beyond ushering them into the Fire?’

Anas replied, ‘I know him only as someone exerting ijtihād (independent judgment).’

He said, ‘The people of Ḥarūrāʾ (1) also exerted ijtihād—did they hit the mark or did they miss it?’

So we left, soundly refuted.”

Ibn ʿUlayyah narrated from ʿUyaynah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, from his father, who said:
“When Abū Bakrah fell ill, his sons offered to bring him a physician, but he refused. When death finally approached, he said, ‘Where is your physician now? Let him repel it, if he is telling the truth!’”

It is also reported that Abū Bakrah left a written testament in which he wrote: “This is what Nufayʿ the Ethiopian has bequeathed…,” and the text of the will was then set out in full.

Ibn Saʿd (2) said: “Abū Bakrah died in Basra during the caliphate of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān.”

Some say he died in the year 51 AH; others say he died in the year 52 AH. This latter opinion was held by Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ (3), and the funeral prayer over him was led by the Companion Abū Barzah al-Aslamī.

(1) Ḥarūrāʾ: a locality near Kufa associated with the early Khārijites.
(2) Referring to the historian Muḥammad ibn Saʿd.
(3) Referring to the historian Khalīfah ibn Khayyāṭ.