that they shouted or raised their voices in anguish at the calamity; the fa that follows denotes immediate succession.
• “When the soul is taken, the eyes follow it”: while the body in life is strongly bound to the soul, even after death the gaze keeps pursuing the departing soul, as though trying to see where it has gone.
• “The angels say Āmīn”: they join you in supplication, saying “Āmīn,” which means, “O Allah, answer (this prayer).”
• “The rightly guided (al-mahdiyyīn)”: those whom Allah has guided and shown the path of rectitude and sound judgment in both life and death.
• “Make his grave spacious for him (afsih lahu fī qabrihi)”: enlarge and extend his grave so that it becomes for him a garden among the gardens of Your Paradise.
• “Illuminate it for him”: the prayers of the righteous are a cause of light in the grave. Al-Bukhārī (458) and Muslim (956) narrate that the Prophet ﷺ said, “These graves are dark for their occupants, but Allah illumines them for them through my prayer for them.”
• “Look after him in his progeny (w’akhlufhu fī ʿaqibih)”: appoint for the family and offspring he has left behind a righteous successor who will care for their religious and worldly affairs.

Lessons derived from the ḥadith

1. It is permissible to look at the face of the deceased.
2. It is recommended to close the eyes of the deceased after death.
3. Death occurs when the soul separates from the body.
4. Wailing, screaming, and raising the voice at the time of death—or any other calamity—are prohibited. It appears that some members of Abū Salama’s household came at his passing and did what they had been accustomed to in the pre-Islamic days, crying out, “Alas! Woe to us!” and the like; so he said, “Do not supplicate against yourselves except with good words.”
5. At the moment of death, it is recommended to utter words of goodness—such as the istirjāʿ (“Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return”)—and to ask Allah’s mercy for the deceased.