“Are you covering the wall? Allah has not commanded us to use what He has provided for us to clothe stone and clay.”

Muslim and others recorded it, with some versions containing additions not found in others, as you will find it fully traced and explained in Adab al-Zifaf (pp. 111–112).

Al-Bayhaqi also recorded it (7/272) from Abu Ja‘far al-Khatmi, from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b, who said: “Abd Allah ibn Zayd was invited to a meal. When he arrived and saw the house adorned with hangings, he sat outside and wept. They asked, ‘What is making you weep?’ He said, ‘Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saw off an army and reached the Farewell Pass, he would say: “I entrust to Allah your religion, your trusts, and the final deeds of your lives.”

“One day, he saw a man who had patched his cloak with a piece of cloth. He then faced the direction of sunrise and gestured thus”—Affan stretched out his hands—“and said, ‘The worldly life is advancing upon you! The worldly life is advancing upon you! The worldly life is advancing upon you!’—meaning, it was approaching—until we thought it was about to fall upon us. Then he said: ‘Are you better today, or when a dish is brought to you each morning and another each evening; when one of you goes out in one outfit and returns in another; and when you cover your homes as the Ka‘bah is covered?’ Abd Allah ibn Yazid said, ‘How could I not weep, when I have lived to see you cover your homes as the Ka‘bah is covered?’”

I say: Its chain of transmission is authentic.

Al-Tirmidhi also recorded it (2/77–87) through Muhammad ibn Ishaq, who said: “Yazid ibn Ziyad narrated to me from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi, who said: ‘Someone who heard Ali ibn Abi Talib say told me: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in the mosque when Mus‘ab ibn Umayr appeared, wearing nothing but a cloak patched with fur ...”’” The report is similar, except that he added at its end: “Indeed, you are better today than you will be on that day.” He said: “It is a good hadith.”

Al-Bayhaqi narrated, through two weak chains, from Muhammad ibn Ka‘b al-Qurazi: “Abd Allah ibn Abbas narrated to me,” attributing it to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, with the wording: