and also by Ibn Ḥibbān(1). Al-Ḥākim(2) said, “It meets the criteria of Muslim.” The various chains of transmission and their wordings have already been cited earlier in the story of Adam.

Ibn Jarīr(3) states: “Some of the People of the Scripture claim that David lived seventy-seven years.”

I say: This is an erroneous assertion that must be rejected. They further claim that his reign lasted forty years. This report may be accepted, for we have nothing that contradicts it, nor anything that definitively establishes it.

As for his death—peace be upon him—Imām Aḥmad recorded in his Musnad(4):

Qutaybah narrated to us; Yaʿqūb ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad narrated to us, from ʿAmr ibn Abī ʿAmr, from al-Muṭṭalib, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“David—peace be upon him—was extremely protective of his family. Whenever he went out, the doors were locked and no one entered upon his household until he returned.

“One day he went out and the house was locked. His wife came to look into the courtyard and there stood a man in the middle of the house. She said to the people inside, ‘How did this man get in when the house is locked? By Allah, David will be exposed!’ David then arrived and found the man standing in the middle of the house.

“David said to him, ‘Who are you?’ He replied, ‘I am the one who fears no kings, and whom no guards can keep out(5).’

“David said, ‘Then by Allah, you are the Angel of Death. Welcome to the command of Allah.’ David thereupon wrapped himself where he was until his soul was taken and the matter was completed. When the sun rose over him(6), Solomon said to the birds, ‘Shade David.’ So the birds shaded him until the earth grew dark beneath them. Solomon then said to the birds, ‘Fold a wing, a wing.’ ”

Abū Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ demonstrated to us how(7) the birds did this, and he closed his hand; that day the muḍraḥiyyah predominated.

Imām Aḥmad alone recorded this ḥadīth. Its chain is sound and strong, and its transmitters are trustworthy.

The meaning of his words, “and on that day the muḍraḥiyyah predominated,” is that it was the muḍraḥiyyah—long-winged falcons, one of which is called a maḍraḥī—that were foremost in providing the shade.

Al-Jawharī said: “It is the falcon with long wings.”(8)

Al-Suddi, reporting from Abū Mālik, from Ibn ʿAbbās, said: “The Prophet of Allah David—peace be upon him—died suddenly on a Sabbath, and the birds shaded him.”