He kept lifting the cloth from his face and weeping, and the people tried to restrain him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Whether you weep for him or not, the angels continued to shade him with their wings until you lifted him up.”(1) In another wording, it was his aunt who was weeping.

Al-Bayhaqī relates:(2) Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ and Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Qāḍī told us; Abū’l-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq narrated to us; Fayḍ ibn Wathīq al-Baṣrī narrated to us; Abū ʿUbādah al-Anṣārī narrated to us, from az-Zuhrī, from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Jābir, “O Jābir, shall I not give you glad tidings?” He replied, “Indeed—may Allah bring you gladness.” The Prophet said, “Allah has brought your father back to life and said to him, ‘Ask of Me, My servant, whatever you wish and I shall grant it.’ He answered, ‘My Lord, I have not worshipped You as You truly deserve; I ask that You return me to the world so that I may be slain alongside Your Prophet and slain once more for Your sake.’ Allah said, ‘I have already decreed that they shall not return to it.’”

Al-Bayhaqī also reports:(3) Abū’l-Ḥasan Muḥammad ibn Abī’l-Maʿrūf al-Isfarāyīnī informed us, saying: Abū Sahl Bishr ibn Aḥmad narrated to us; Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Naṣr narrated to us; ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī narrated to us; Mūsā ibn Ibrāhīm [ibn Kathīr] ibn Bashīr ibn al-Fākih al-Anṣārī narrated to us: I heard Ṭalḥah ibn Kharāsh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Kharāsh ibn aṣ-Ṣammah al-Anṣārī—later as-Salamī—say: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ looked at me and asked, “Why do I see you distressed?” I replied, “O Messenger of Allah, my father has been killed and he has left a debt and dependants.” He said, “Shall I not inform you? Allah has never spoken to anyone except from behind a veil, yet He spoke to your father directly, face to face, and said to him: ‘My servant, ask of Me and I shall grant you.’ He said, ‘I ask that You return me to the world so that I may be slain for Your sake a second time.’ Allah replied, ‘The word has already gone forth from Me that they shall not return to it.’ He then said, ‘My Lord, convey this to those I leave behind.’” So Allah revealed: “Do not think of those who have been killed in the path of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.” (Āl ʿImrān 3:169).

Ibn Isḥāq narrates:(4) One of our companions told me, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, who said: I heard Jābir say: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to me, “Shall I not bring you good news, O Jābir?” I said, “Yes indeed.” He said, “When your father was struck down at Uḥud, Allah brought him to life and said to him, ‘What would you like Me to do for you, ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr?’ He replied, ‘My Lord, I would like You to return me to the world so that I may fight for Your sake and be slain a second time.’”

Aḥmad has likewise transmitted this(5) through ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī, from Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Rabīʿah as-Salamī, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, from Jābir, adding: Allah said, “I have decreed that they shall not return to it.”