2318 – ʿAbd Allah narrated to us, saying, “I found in my father’s book, written in his own hand: I was told by Muhammad ibn Shuʿayb, through some of the elders of Damascus, who said:

‘We were returning triumphant from Byzantine territory. After leaving Ḥimṣ and setting out for Damascus, we reached the crossing about four miles outside Ḥimṣ toward the end of the night. The monk who lived in the nearby hermitage heard us, looked out, and called, “Who are you, people?”

We replied, “We are travelers from Damascus, coming back from Byzantine lands.”

He asked, “Do you know Abū Muslim al-Khawlānī?”

We answered, “Yes.”

He said, “When you see him, convey to him my greetings of peace and tell him that we find him recorded in the Scripture as a companion of Jesus son of Mary—peace be upon him. Yet know that if you truly know him, you will not find him alive.”’

The narrator continues: ‘When we reached the outskirts of al-Ghūṭa we received the news of his death—may Allah be pleased with him.’