of the righteous. (Qur’an 7:196) By Allah, I will never give them anyone else’s rightful due. They will be one of two sorts: if he is righteous, then Allah Himself cares for the righteous; and if he is not righteous, I would never aid him in his sin.

In another version he said, “Then I do not care in which valley he is destroyed.”

In yet another version he said, “Shall I leave behind for him something with which he will disobey Allah, becoming thereby my partner in what he does after my death? I will never do that.”

He then summoned his children, bade them farewell, consoled them with these words, and charged them accordingly. After that he said, “Leave now; may Allah protect you and grant you the best succession.”

The narrator continues: “We later saw some of the sons of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz equipping eighty horses in the cause of Allah, whereas some of the sons of Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik—despite the great wealth their father had left them—went begging from the sons of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz. ʿUmar had entrusted his children to Allah—Exalted is He—whereas Hishām and others entrusted their children only to what they left them; as a result they were ruined and their wealth vanished in their children’s passions. (1)

Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān (2) said: Abū al-Nuʿmān narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us, from Ayyūb, who said:

It was suggested to ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, “O Commander of the Believers, if only you would come to Madinah. If Allah then decrees your death, you would be placed in the fourth grave beside the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar.” (3)

He replied, “By Allah, for Allah to punish me with every punishment—save the Fire, for I could not endure it—is dearer to me than that Allah should know from my heart that I consider myself worthy of that place.”

They related that his illness befell him at Dayr Samʿān, one of the villages of Ḥimṣ, and that it lasted twenty days. When death approached he said, “Seat me.” They seated him and he said, “My Lord, I am the one You commanded and I fell short; You forbade me and I disobeyed”—he repeated this three times—“yet there is no god but Allah.” He then raised his head and fixed his gaze.

They said, “You are looking so intently, O Commander of the Believers.” He replied, “I am seeing beings who are neither human nor jinn.” He passed away at that very moment. (4)

In another report he said to his family, “Leave me.” They left, and Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik and his sister Fāṭimah sat at the door. They heard him say, “Welcome to these faces that are neither human nor jinn,” after which he recited, “That home of the Hereafter We assign to those who desire neither exaltedness upon the earth nor corruption; and the outcome is for the God-fearing.” (Qur’an 28:83) His voice then grew quiet. They entered and found that his eyes had been closed, his body turned toward the qiblah, and that he had passed away. (4)

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah said: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz narrated to us, from al-Darāwardī, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Abī Salamah, that when ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz was laid in his grave a strong wind blew and a parchment, written in the most beautiful script, came flying