When he reached a watering-place in Najd called Farda,(1) the fever seized him and he died from it. Realizing that death was imminent, he recited:

[Ṭawīl metre]
Will my tribe set out eastward at dawn and depart,
while I am left in a lonely hut in distant Farda?
Ah, how many a day—had I fallen ill—visitors would have come
whose constant care would strive until the sickness passed.

He continued: When he died, his wife—out of ignorance and the weakness of her mind and faith—took the writings that were with him(2) and burned them in the fire.

I say: It is established in the Ṣaḥīḥ(3) on the authority of Abū Saʿīd that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib sent to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from Yemen a small lump of gold still mingled with its earth. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ distributed it among four men: Zayd al-Khayl, ʿAlqamah ibn ʿUlāthah, al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis, and ʿUyaynah(4) ibn Baḍr… and so on. Its full account will appear under the expedition of ʿAlī to Yemen, if Allah Most High wills.

The Story of ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim al-Ṭāʾī

Al-Bukhārī(5) relates in his Ṣaḥīḥ, in the chapter “The Delegation of Ṭayyiʾ and the ḥadīth of ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim,” through the chain: Mūsā ibn Ismāʿīl – Abū ʿAwānah – ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr – ʿAmr ibn Ḥurayth – ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim, who said:

“We came to ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb as a delegation. He began calling the men one by one, naming each of them. I said, ‘Do you not recognize me, O Commander of the Believers?’ He replied, ‘Indeed I do: you accepted Islam when others disbelieved, advanced when they turned back, kept faith when they betrayed, and acknowledged when they denied.’ ʿAdiyy said, ‘In that case, I care for nothing else.’ ”

Ibn Isḥāq(6) said: As for ʿAdiyy ibn Ḥātim, he used to say—so it has reached me—“There was no Arab who loathed the Messenger of Allah ﷺ more than I did when I first heard of him. I was a man of standing, a Christian; I took the mirbaʿ,(8) the fourth share, from my people; I considered myself religious; and I was treated as a king among my tribe. When I heard of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ I detested him, and I said to an Arab servant of mine who herded my camels, ‘May your father perish—prepare some of my camels for me…’ ”