so it disgorged its bounty and cast forth its hidden treasures (1). It cherished him, while he turned away from it (2); it offered itself to him, but he rejected it. He then maintained scrupulous restraint toward it (3) and bade it farewell just as he had lived in its company. Show me what you find questionable (4), and which day of his you fault (5): was it the day he remained among you, when he dealt justly with you, or the day he departed, after he had looked out for your welfare (6)? [I say these words and] ask Allah to forgive me and you” (7).

This sermon was narrated by Ja'far ibn Awn, from his father, from Aisha. All of these are narrators of the two Sahih collections. Abū Usāma also narrated it from Hishām ibn Urwa, from his father. Some narrated it from Hishām without mentioning Urwa in the chain (8).

As for Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—he regarded the claims of the six as closely matched. Although some of them possessed a virtue that others did not, the one surpassed in that respect possessed another distinction that the other lacked. He considered that if he appointed any one of them, some flaw might arise in that man’s governance and thus be attributed to him. He therefore refrained from making a specific appointment out of fear of Allah Most High, knowing that not a single person had a stronger claim to this office than those six (9). He thereby combined the two benefits: that of