—saw Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab with both his hair and beard completely white. (1)

Yahya ibn Saʿīd reported that whenever Ibn al-Musayyab passed by the maktab, he would say to the boys, “These are the people who will come after us.” (2)

Account of his illness and death:

Ibn Saʿd said (3): Khalid ibn Mukhallad narrated to us, Sulaymān ibn Bilāl narrated to me, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥarmalah narrated to me:

“I entered upon Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab while he was gravely ill. He was performing the Zuhr prayer lying on his back, indicating the movements with slight gestures, and I heard him recite: ‘By the sun and its brightness’ (Q 91:1).

Al-Thawri narrated from Ibn Ḥarmalah:

“I was with Ibn al-Musayyab at a funeral when a man said, ‘Pray for her forgiveness.’ He replied, ‘What is that chanter of theirs saying! I have strictly forbidden my family to allow any rājiz (funeral chanter) to accompany me, to proclaim, “Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab has died,” or to walk alongside me with a censer. It is enough for me that the one who turns me over to my Lord does so; for if I am good, what is with Allah is better than any fragrance of theirs.’ (4)

Muʿāwiyah ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated from Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said:

“I have instructed my family in three matters: that no rājiz and no fire accompany me, and that they hasten with my burial; for if any good awaits me with Allah, it is better than anything you possess.” (5)

Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Uways informed us; my father related to me, from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Makhzūmī:

“Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab’s pain intensified, so Nāfiʿ ibn Jubayr came in to visit him. He lost consciousness, whereupon Nāfiʿ said, ‘Turn him to face the qiblah.’ They did so, and he regained consciousness,”