262 — ʿAlī ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us, saying: Abū Mushir ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Mushir al-Ghassānī narrated to us, saying: Sadaqa ibn Khālid narrated to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Yazīd ibn Jābir narrated to me, saying: Makhūl narrated to me, saying:

A delegation from the Ashʿarī tribe came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, “Was Wahara one of you?”

They replied, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah.”

He said, “Allah, Mighty and Majestic, admitted her to Paradise because of her filial devotion to her mother, even though her mother was a polytheist. Her clan was raided, and she and her mother were left behind. She carried her mother, hastening with her over the sun-scorched ground. Whenever her feet became scorched, she seated her mother in her lap, stretched out her legs, and placed her mother’s legs upon her own. She then bent over her to shade her from the sun. When evening came, she carried her onward. She continued in this way until she brought her to safety, and for that Allah, Glorified and Exalted, admitted her to Paradise.”

Ibn Jābir said: I lived to hear people say, “Even if you were more dutiful than Wahara.”

Abū Mushir said: During the pre-Islamic period, a man of the Ashʿarī tribe said:

[The Mutaqārib Meter]

“O morning traveler, carry my words
To all my sons, and carry them to my daughters:

My counsel is that you fear God;
Hold fast to my counsel as long as you live.

Be like Wahara in her filial devotion,
That you may attain honor after death.

With her own limbs she shielded her mother from the scorching ground,
While summer’s blaze set the wilderness aflame.

Barefoot through the sands, she served as her mother’s mount,
Fearful and wary of the foe.

That she might please a Lord of tremendous might
And gain deliverance from His Fire.

This is my counsel; throughout your lives,
Be its guardians—the most vigilant of guardians.”