and would then sit, engaging in istighfār—seeking forgiveness—until the break of dawn.
Abū Saʿīd al-Ashajj said: Ibrāhīm ibn Wakīʿ narrated to us: “Whenever my father stood to pray, no one in our house failed to pray—not even a black slave-girl of ours.”
ʿAbbās reported: Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn narrated to us: “I frequently heard Wakīʿ say, ‘What a day death will be for us!’ I once saw him take up the Book of Zuhd and begin to read it. When he reached a certain report, he set the book aside, rose, and gave no commentary. The next day, when he resumed, he reached that same passage, rose once more, and did not narrate it; he did this for three consecutive days.”
I asked Yaḥyā, “Which report was that?”
He answered, “The ḥadith: ‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a wayfarer.’ (1)”
Ibn ʿAmmār said: “Wakīʿ fasted continually, breaking the fast only on the day of doubt and on the festivals. I was told that he would actually fall ill whenever he broke his fast on those days.”
Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related: “My father would sit with the ḥadith students from early morning until the sun was high. Then he would leave, take a midday rest, offer the ẓuhr prayer, and head along the road to the mashraʿah (2) from which the narrators’ caravans would embark (3)….”
(1) Tarikh Ibn Main, pp. 631-632. – The hadith “Be in this world…’’ is reported by al-Bukhari, 11/199-200, in the Book of Softening the Heart (al-Riqaq), chapter: “The Prophet’s saying: ‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger’.” Chain of transmission: ʿAli b. ʿAbd Allah – Muhammad b. ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Taffawi – al-Aʿmash – Mujahid – ʿAbd Allah b. ʿUmar. Ibn ʿUmar relates: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ took me by the shoulders and said: ‘Be in this world as though you were a stranger or a passer-by.’ Ibn ʿUmar would add: ‘When night falls, do not expect the morning; when morning comes, do not expect the evening. Make use of your health before sickness, and of your life before death’.” The same hadith is also recorded by al-Tirmidhi (no. 2333) in the Book of Zuhd, chapter on shortening one’s hopes; by Ibn Majah (no. 4114) in the Book of Zuhd, chapter on the parable of the world; and by Ahmad, Musnad, 2/24 and 41, through the route of al-Layth b. Saʿd from Mujahid, from Ibn ʿUmar.
(2) al-Mashraʿa: the place where one goes down to draw water; more generally, a public watering-place from which people and their animals drink. Tarikh Baghdad adds: “He was referring to the road that leads to the mashraʿa.”
(3) Rawiya (pl. rawaaya): either a leather water-bag, or the pack-animal on which water is transported.