asking, “These seventy—through what deed did they attain such a rank? They could not have reached it except by some act, so what is it?”

fa-akhbarūhu: that is, they informed the Prophet ﷺ of their discussion about who those seventy were meant to be.

lā yastaqūn: they do not ask anyone to perform ruqyah (Qur’anic healing incantations) for them, preferring to dispense with people’s help.

wa-lā yaktawūn: they do not request others to cauterize them with fire.

wa-lā yatatayyirūn: they do not regard birds or similar omens as inauspicious.

wa-ʿalā rabbihim yatawakkalūn: they rely upon their Lord alone in all their affairs, putting their trust in Him and entrusting everything to Him.

sabaqaka bihā ʿUkkāshah: “ʿUkkāshah has beaten you to it,” meaning he has outstripped you either in possessing these qualities or in making the request.

General meaning of the ḥadīth: Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān recounts a conversation that took place in the gathering of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr on a night when a meteor flashed across the sky. Ḥuṣayn told the assembly that he had seen it because he had not been asleep at the time; yet he feared they might assume he had seen the star only because he was standing in prayer. Wishing to avoid any appearance of a devotional act he had not performed—the early Muslims were scrupulous about sincerity—he explained the real reason for his wakefulness: he had been stung. The discussion then turned to what treatment he had used for the sting. He replied that he had treated it with ruqyah, whereupon Saʿīd asked him for textual evidence permitting that course. Ḥuṣayn cited the prophetic report allowing ruqyah, and Saʿīd approved his action because it was based on clear proof. Saʿīd then pointed him to an even better state: rising to the perfection of pure monotheism by foregoing even disliked remedies despite needing them, relying solely upon Allah—like the condition of the seventy.