It is said that he witnessed eight years of the Prophet’s ﷺ life and died in the year 100 AH, while others maintain he died in 107 AH or 110 AH (1); Allah knows best.
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj stated, “He was the very last of the Companions to pass away, and he died in the year 100 AH” (2).
Abu ‘Uthman al-Nahdi (3)—whose given name was ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Mull al-Basri—lived through the pre-Islamic era and performed the pilgrimage twice during that time. He embraced Islam while the Prophet ﷺ was still alive, though he never met him, and for three consecutive years he delivered his zakat to the Prophet’s ﷺ collectors. The hadith masters classify a man of this description as a mukhadram. He later migrated to Madinah during the caliphate of ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, from whom he learned, as he did from ‘Ali, Ibn Mas‘ud, and many other Companions. He kept company with Salman al-Farisi for twelve years, remaining with him until he buried him.
Many Successors and others transmitted from him, among them Ayyub, Humayd al-Tawil, and Sulayman ibn Tarkhan al-Taymi.
‘Asim al-Ahwal said: I heard him relate, “In the Days of Ignorance I saw Yaghuth, an idol of lead borne upon a hairless camel. Whenever the camel reached a valley it would kneel, and the people would say, ‘Your lord is pleased to grant you this valley,’ whereupon they would alight and settle there (4).”
He also said: I heard him asked, “Did you live during the Prophet’s ﷺ time?” He replied, “Yes! I embraced Islam in his lifetime, paid zakat to him three times, though I never met him face-to-face. I fought at Yarmuk, Qadisiyyah, Jalula’, Nihawand, Tustar, Azerbaijan, and Rustam.”
Another authority reports that he was the herald who brought ‘Umar the news of the victory at Nihawand (5).
Abu ‘Uthman used to fast continuously by day and stand in prayer by night without fail. He would pray until he fell unconscious, and he performed the pilgrimage sixty times, counting both Hajj and ‘Umrah.
Sulayman al-Taymi remarked, “I believe he committed no sin, for he spends his nights standing in prayer and his days fasting (6).”