2014 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us; someone related to me—he had heard it from Saif ibn Harun al-Burjumi—, from Mansur ibn Muslim, from a shaykh of the Banu Hizam, who said:

“I heard Hirm ibn Hayyan al-ʿAbdi say: ‘I set out from Basra in search of Uways al-Qarani. When I reached Kufa I stayed there for several days without sensing any trace of him or seeing him. One scorching day, right at noon, while I was on the bank of the Euphrates, I suddenly saw a brown-skinned man with a thick beard, of uncomely appearance, dishevelled, his head unshaven—meaning his hair had been roughly clipped. He was wearing two garments, which I think were wool: one as a waist-wrapper and the other as a cloak, and he never washed either of the two in water. I thought he must be the one, so I approached and stood over him.

He looked at me and recited: “Glory be to our Lord; indeed, the promise of our Lord is ever fulfilled” (Qur’an 17:108). Then he asked, “Who guided you to me?” I replied, “Allah—exalted is He—guided me to you.”

I stretched out my hands toward him, but he did not extend his hand to me. I do not know why he did that, and I wept at what I saw. He said to me, “How are you, Hirm ibn Hayyan? How are you, my brother?” I said, “May Allah have mercy on you! How did you know I am Hirm when we have never seen each other?” He answered, “My soul recognized your soul.”

He then took me by the hand and wept, and I wept with him. After that he said:

“Hirm ibn Hayyan, your father Adam has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, Noah has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, Abraham, the close friend of the All-Merciful, has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, Moses, the intimate of the All-Merciful, has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, Abu Bakr, the caliph of the Muslims, has died; Hirm ibn Hayyan, my beloved and chosen friend ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah have mercy on him) has died.”

I said, “May Allah have mercy on you! ʿUmar has not died.” (This took place toward the end of ʿUmar’s caliphate.) He then said:'