He used to say, “When one of you reaches forty years of age, let him take due precautions before Allah.”
He also said, “If a messenger were to come to me from my Lord—exalted is He—and inform me that He will punish me, I would still exert myself in worship so that I would not blame myself if I entered Hell. Have you not heard His words: ‘And I swear by the self-reproaching soul’ (Q 75:2)? They reproached themselves only after they had entered Hell, when the wardens of Hell seized them, their desires were cut off, their hopes vanished, mercy was withdrawn from them, and each of them turned to blaming himself.”
Imam Ahmad said, “Masrūq performed the pilgrimage and did not sleep except while prostrating on his face until he returned. He would pray until his feet became swollen.”
Masrūq used to say, “My best opinion of my Lord is when the servant announces, ‘There is not a single qafiz (measure of grain) nor a dirham left in the house.’”
He also said, “It befits a person to have private sittings in which he recalls his sins and seeks Allah’s forgiveness for them.”
Ibn Murthad said, “Asceticism among the Successors reached eight men, one of whom was Masrūq.”
Masrūq’s wife said, “He was never found except with his legs swollen from lengthy prayer.”
When death drew near he wept. Someone asked, “What is this anxiety?” He replied, “Why should I not weep? It is but one great fall, after which I do not know where I will be taken: two paths lie before me, and I do not know whether they lead to Paradise or to the Fire.”
He was once fasting on a scorching day and fainted. His daughter said to him, “Break your fast.” He asked, “What do you want for me?” She answered, “Ease.” He said, “I am seeking ease for myself on a Day whose span is fifty thousand years.” (1)
[Then the year 64 AH commenced.]
In that year—at the very beginning of Muḥarram—Muslim ibn ʿUqbah set out for Mecca intending to fight Ibn al-Zubayr and the Bedouin who had rallied around him in opposition to Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah. He left Rawḥ ibn Zinbaʿ as governor of Madinah. When he reached Thaniyyat Harshā (2) he summoned the chiefs of the army, gathered them, and said, “The Commander of the Faithful instructed me that, should death overtake me, I am to appoint Ḥusayn ibn Numayr al-Sakūnī over you; by Allah, had the matter been mine, I would not have done so.”
He then called him in and said, “Listen, O son of Bardʿah the donkey, and remember what I command you.” He ordered him that once he reached Mecca he should confront Ibn al-Zubayr within three days.
Then he said, “O Allah, I have never performed any deed—after testifying that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah—dearer to me than killing the people of …”