…When the verse, “Indeed, Allah does not love every swaggering boaster” (Qur’an 31:18) was revealed to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, it weighed heavily on Thabit. He shut the door of his house and began to weep. The Prophet was told, so he sent for him. Thabit explained how distressed he was and added, “I am a man who loves elegance and who likes to be foremost among his people.” The Prophet said, “You are not one of those meant by the verse. Rather, you will live in goodness, die in goodness, and Allah will admit you to the Garden.”
Later, when the verse was sent down: “O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak loudly to him…” (Qur’an 49:2), he behaved the same way. The Prophet ﷺ was informed and had him brought. Thabit said that the verse had greatly affected him, that he had a loud voice, and that he feared his deeds might be rendered null. The Prophet replied, “You are not among them. On the contrary, you will live honorably, be killed a martyr, and Allah will admit you to the Garden.”
When Abu Bakr called the Muslims to fight the apostates at al-Yamamah against Musaylimah the Liar, Thabit marched out with the army. When they met Musaylimah and the Banu Hanifah, the Muslims were routed three times. Thabit and Salim, the freedman of Abu Hudhayfah, said, “This is not how we used to fight alongside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” They dug a pit for themselves, entered it, and fought until they were killed.
She said: A Muslim saw Thabit ibn Qays in a dream, and Thabit said to him, “Yesterday when I was killed, a Muslim came by and stripped a precious coat of mail from me. His dwelling is at the far end of the camp, and tethered near it is a piebald horse (1). He has overturned a cooking-pot over the armor and placed a saddle on top. Go to Khalid ibn al-Walid and have him send for my armor and take it. When you reach the Caliph of the Messenger of Allah, tell him that I owe such-and-such in debt, that I possess such-and-such in wealth, and that such-and-such of my slaves is now manumitted. Beware of saying, ‘It was only a dream,’ and neglecting this.”
The man went to Khalid, who dispatched someone for the armor and found it exactly as described. He then went to Abu Bakr and informed him, and Abu Bakr carried out Thabit’s bequests after his death. We know of no one whose bequest was executed posthumously except Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammās (2).
This report and story have other supporting chains. The hadith relating to the verse, “O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet…” is in Sahih Muslim (3) from Anas.
Hammad ibn Salamah narrated, from Thabit, from Anas, that Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shammās came on the Day of al-Yamamah having perfumed himself and spread out his shroud, saying, “O Allah, I disavow what these people have brought, and I seek Your pardon for what these others have done.” He was killed, and he had a coat of mail that was stolen. A man later saw him in a dream, and Thabit said, “My armor is in a cauldron beneath the hearth in such-and-such a place,” and he gave him instructions. They looked for the armor, found it, and carried out the instructions. This too was narrated by al-Tabarani (4).