crying out, “Alas for disaster! Alas for ruin!” and the like. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not invoke anything but good upon yourselves, for the angels say ‘Āmīn’ to whatever you utter.”

He then closed Abū Salama’s eyes—that is, he drew one eyelid over the other so they would not remain open. This is what should be done for the deceased: while the body is still warm the eyes are closed, for once it grows cold they can no longer be shut.

The Prophet ﷺ then supplicated:
“O Allah, forgive Abū Salama, raise him in rank among the rightly guided, be his successor among those he leaves behind, forgive us and him, O Lord of all realms, make his grave spacious for him, and fill it with light.”

What magnificent prayers—each of us would long to receive them. “O Allah, forgive Abū Salama,” meaning pardon his sins; “raise him in rank among the rightly guided,” that is, in the gardens of bliss—may Allah make us among their people; “make his grave spacious,” meaning widen it for him; “and fill it with light,” for the grave is darkness except for the one upon whom Allah bestows light—may Allah illuminate our graves. “Be his successor among those he leaves behind,” meaning, watch over and care for his descendants after him.

Umm Salama, Allah be pleased with her, had heard the Prophet ﷺ say, “No one is struck by a calamity and then says, ‘O Allah, reward me in my affliction and grant me something better in exchange,’ but that Allah rewards him in his calamity and grants him what is better.” So she uttered these words when her husband—her cousin and the dearest of people to her—passed away.