together with two delegations: one from Sind and the other from Ifrīqiyyah. They will arrive pledging their hearing, obedience, and bayʿah; and no more than three days will pass thereafter before I die.’
He (the narrator) continues: ‘The two delegations did in fact arrive, and I said to him, “May Allah magnify your reward, O uncle, for the loss of your nephew.”
I added, “Not so, O Commander of the Faithful—if Allah wills.”
He replied, “No—leave the phrase in shāʾ Allāh. If this world is beloved, the Hereafter is dearer to me; meeting my Lord is better for me. The sound confirmation of this report from the Messenger of Allah is dearer to me than the world itself. By Allah, I have not lied, nor have I been lied to.”
He then rose, entered his private quarters, and ordered me to remain seated. When the muʾadhdhin came to announce the time for ẓuhr, a servant emerged and told me to lead the prayer on his behalf, and the same occurred at ʿaṣr, maghrib, and ʿishāʾ: each time the servant came out and instructed me to pray in his stead. I spent the night there.
At the pre-dawn hour the servant brought me a written order telling me to lead the people in the fajr and the ʿĪd prayer on his behalf, then to return to his residence. In the letter he said:
‘My uncle, when I die do not inform the people of my death until you have read this document aloud to them, so that they may give the bayʿah to the person named therein.’
I led the people in prayer, then came back to him and found nothing amiss. Later that day I entered again and found him in the same condition, except that two small pustules had appeared on his face; they then grew, and soon his face was covered with tiny white spots—it was said to be smallpox. Early on the second of the Days of Tashrīq I visited him and found him delirious, unable to recognise me or anyone else. I returned in the afternoon and found him swollen, as if he were a water-skin. He passed away on the third of the Days of Tashrīq. I covered his body as he had instructed and went out to the people, read them his letter, and it stated:
‘From the servant of Allah, the Commander of the Faithful, to the envoy, the men of rank, and the general body of Muslims: peace be upon you. To proceed: The Commander of the Faithful has invested the caliphate over you, after his death, in his brother; so listen and obey. After him he has conferred it upon ʿĪsā ibn Mūsā, if it be.’
The people differed about his words “if it be”. Some said it meant, “if he is worthy of it”; others said, “if he is alive.” The second view is correct. This was mentioned by al-Khaṭīb (1) and by Ibn ʿAsākir at length (2); what is presented here is an abridgement, and it includes reference to a marfūʿ hadith that is extremely weak.
Ibn ʿAsākir (3) also reports that the physician entered, took his hand, and he (al-Saffāḥ) recited:
‘Behold the body’s feeble stir,
Its humbled state after repose;
It spells it out for you quite clear—
This is but death’s approaching throes.’
The doctor said, “You are well.” So he replied with other verses:
‘He tells me I am sound and whole,
Though both of us see the hidden pain;
I know for certain I shall not remain—
Once certainty is plain, no doubt can reign.’