shall soon be on our way—go in the morning, for we shall follow in the evening. A compelling admonition, yet heedlessness returns swiftly (1); the first departs, while the one who remains is left devoid of sense.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr ibn Mālik said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal narrated to us; Abū Bakr Layth ibn Khālid al-Bajali (2) narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Muʾmin ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Sadūsi (3) said: I heard Abū Yazīd al-Madani say: Abū Hurayrah once stood on the pulpit of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—one step below where the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to stand—and proclaimed: “Woe to the Arabs for an evil that is drawing near! Woe to them when authority falls to mere boys: they will rule by whim and kill in anger.”
Imām Aḥmad said: ʿAlī ibn Thābit narrated to us, from Usāmah ibn Zayd, from Abū Ziyād—the client of Ibn ʿAbbās—from Abū Hurayrah, who said: “I had fifteen dates: I broke my fast with five, I used five to hire assistance, and I kept five for my next meal (4).”
Aḥmad also related: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAmr narrated to us; Ismāʿīl—meaning al-ʿAbdī—narrated to us; from Abū al-Mutawakkil: Abū Hurayrah had an African slave-girl who distressed them by her conduct. One day he raised the whip over her and said, “Were it not for retaliation on the Day of Resurrection, I would strike you with this; instead, I shall sell you to someone who will pay me your price when I most need it. Go—you are free for the sake of Allah, exalted is He (5).”
Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated from Ayyūb, from Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, from Abū Salamah: Abū Hurayrah fell ill, so I went in to visit him and said, “O Allah, heal Abū Hurayrah.” He replied, “O Allah, do not return it.” Then he said, “O Abū Salamah, a time is coming upon the people when death will be dearer to any one of them than red gold (6).”
ʿAṭāʾ narrated from Abū Hurayrah that he said: “When you see six things, then if anyone still holds his soul in his own hand, let him release it. For this reason I wish for death, fearing that they may overtake me: when the foolish are installed in office, justice is bought and sold, blood is taken lightly, kinship ties are severed, enforcers multiply (7), and a generation arises (8) who treat the Quran as mere songs (9).”