289 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; he said: Yahya ibn ʿAbd al-Hamid al-Himmani narrated to us; he said: Sharik narrated to us; he said: Abu al-Yaqẓan narrated to us, from Zadhan, from ʿUlaym, who said:
“We were with ʿAbs al-Ghifari on the roof of one of his buildings when he saw people fleeing. He asked, ‘From what are these people running?’ They replied, ‘They are escaping the plague.’ He said, ‘Would that the plague overtook me!’
A paternal cousin of his objected, ‘Do you say that when I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, “None of you should wish for death, for when his appointed term ends he will not be returned so that he may set matters right”?’
ʿAbs answered, ‘And how could I not, when I heard him say: “Hasten to death before six things: ⦗189⦘ the rule of fools, the proliferation of police, the sale of judgments, making light of bloodshed, the severing of kinship ties, and a rising generation that will treat the Quran as mere melodies, advancing a man to sing it for them even though he is the least of them in understanding.”’