2452 – Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn al-ʿAbbas informed us; he said: Ahmad ibn Sulayman al-Tusi informed us; he said: al-Zubayr ibn Bakkar narrated to us; he said: Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Abi Qudamah told me, from ʿUthman ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, who said:

When death approached Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), he summoned ʿUthman ibn ʿAffan and dictated to him his testament:

“This is the covenant made by Abu Bakr, son of Abu Quhafah, at the close of his residence in this world as he departs from it, and at the beginning of his residence in the Hereafter as he enters it, so that the unbeliever may believe and the sinner may repent. I appoint after me ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab. If he rules with justice, that is the judgment I hold concerning him and the opinion I formed of him. If he should wrong and alter, my intention was to uphold the truth, and I do not know the unseen. ‘My success comes only from Allah’ (Hud 88). ‘Those who have wronged will soon know what an evil end they will meet’ (Ash-Shuʿara 227).”