Next, the author—may Allah have mercy on him—cites the verse, “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be in lofty, fortified towers,” as evidence for his previous injunction, “do not leave it.” Allah says, “Wherever you may be”—in any place or at any time—“even if you should be in fortified towers,” meaning towers that are well-defended, sealed, and plastered with lime, perfectly constructed. Yet death will still reach you: “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be in fortified towers.”
He then points to another verse that is even stronger and more eloquent: “Say, the death from which you flee will surely meet you.” You run from it, yet it does not merely trail behind you; it meets you face-to-face. There is no escape from death. How, then, can you leave a land visited by plague, thinking to flee death? Even if you did, you would find no escape from the decree of Allah, Exalted is He.
Recite as well Allah’s words: “Have you not considered those who left their homes in their thousands, fearing death? Allah said to them, ‘Die,’ then He revived them.” These were crowds—vast multitudes—upon whom a plague descended in their land, so they fled in fear of death. Allah showed them, as the verse makes clear, that He encompasses all things and inevitably accomplishes what He wills. He said to them, “Die”—a creative, decretive command—and they died, for when Allah wills a thing He only says to it, “Be,” and it is. They died, though they were thousands, and then Allah brought them back to life. Allah is capable of all things, but He demonstrated to them that there is absolutely no escape from the decree of Allah—none whatsoever.
The author further supports the ruling that one must not enter a land stricken with plague by citing the verse, “Do not cast yourselves with your own hands into destruction,” meaning: do not undertake an action that will bring about your ruin. He then adduces the hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ in this regard and mentions the well-known incident of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb—may Allah be pleased with him—when he departed from Madinah.