9/454 — Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf reported that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf — may Allah be pleased with him — was once served food while he was fasting. He said, “Musʿab ibn ʿUmayr was slain, and he was better than I. Nothing could be found to shroud him in except a single cloak: if his head was covered, his feet showed, and if his feet were covered, his head showed. Then this world was spread out before us—or he said, we were granted from this world what we have been granted—and we fear that our good deeds have been hastened for us now.” He then began to weep until he left the food untouched. Reported by al-Bukhārī.

[Commentary]
The ḥadiths the author includes in the chapter “Weeping out of fear of Allah or longing for Him” comprise several reports. Among them is the narration of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr, who came upon the Prophet ﷺ while he was praying and heard from his chest a rumbling like the boiling of a kettle. A mirjal is a pot boiling over the fire that makes a well-known sound, and the sound from the Prophet’s chest was undoubtedly out of fear of Allah; this is weeping born of fear of Him.

He also cited the report of Anas that the Prophet ﷺ said to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, “Allah has commanded me to recite to you: lam yakuni alladhīna kafarū min ahl al-kitābi wal-mushrikīna (Surah al-Bayyinah, 98:1).” Ubayy asked, “Did He mention me by name?” He replied, “Yes,” whereupon Ubayy burst into tears. This weeping may have been out of longing for Allah, for the fact that Allah instructed His Prophet ﷺ to recite this sūrah specifically to Ubayy points to the lofty rank of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb,