Chapter: What to say after closing the eyes of the deceased

919 – Umm Salama (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in to see Abu Salama and found that his gaze had become fixed. He closed his eyes and said, “When the soul is taken, the eyes follow it.” Some members of his family began to wail, so he said, “Do not supplicate for yourselves except with good words, for the angels say āmīn to whatever you utter.” He then prayed: “O Allah, forgive Abu Salama, raise his rank among the rightly guided, look after those he has left among the survivors, forgive us and him, O Lord of all creation, make his grave spacious for him and fill it with light.” Reported by Muslim.

[Commentary]
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—says in his book Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn: “Chapter: What is to be said when the eyes of the deceased are closed.” In other words, when someone is present at a person’s deathbed, the dying person will generally stare; his eyes open wide as he watches the soul leave the body. When the soul departs, it has a form, yet that form is invisible to living people; only the deceased and the angels see it, and they take it away. The Prophet ﷺ entered upon Abu Salama, and it was the Prophet’s habit that he