would visit the sick. He therefore entered and saw that Abu Salama’s gaze was fixed—his eyes wide and unblinking—and the Prophet ﷺ realised that he had died. He said, “When the soul is taken, the eyes follow it.”

Some members of the deceased’s family wailed when they heard these words and understood that the man had passed away, as people customarily do. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Do not pray against yourselves except with good, for the angels say āmīn to whatever you utter.”

In the pre-Islamic days they would call ruin and destruction down upon themselves in such moments, crying, “Alas! Woe to me!” and the like—may Allah protect us. Hence he repeated, “Do not pray against yourselves except with good, for the angels say āmīn to whatever you utter.”

In situations like this, therefore, a person should invoke good for himself and recite the supplication the Prophet ﷺ taught: “O Allah, reward me in my affliction and replace it with something better,” after first saying, “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.” Every calamity calls for saying, “Indeed we belong to Allah and to Him we shall return.” In the calamity of death one then adds, “O Allah, reward me in my affliction and replace it with something better,” and the same applies to all other trials.

The Prophet ﷺ related this ḥadīth, and Umm Salama—the wife of Abu Salama—heard it. When her husband, who was among the dearest of people to her, died, she made this very supplication.