Hadith 481

وعن ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال : مر رسول الله صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم بقبور المدينة فأقبل عليهم بوجهه فقال : « السلام عليكم يا أهل القبور يغفر الله لنا ولكم ،‏‏‏‏ أنتم سلفنا ،‏‏‏‏ ونحن بالأثر». رواه الترمذي وقال: حسن.
Ibn ‘Abbas (RAA) narrated, ‘Once the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) passed by some graves in Madinah. He turned his face toward them saying, “Peace be upon you, O dwellers of these graves. May Allah forgive you and us. You have preceded us, and we are following your trail." Related by At-Tirmidhi, who graded it as Hasan.
Hadith Reference بلوغ المرام / 481
Hadith Grading محدثین: ضعيف
Hadith Takhrij «أخرجه الترمذي، الجنائز، باب ما يقول الرجل إذا دخل المقابر، حديث:1053. * قابوس فيه لين (تقريب).»
Related hadith on this topic
Explanation & Benefits
Shaykh Safi ur-Rahman Mubarakpuri
Lexical Explanation:
In «أَنْتُمْ سَلَفُنَا» «سلْفُنَا», both the "seen" and "laam" have a fathah, meaning "those who passed away first."
In «وَنَحْنُ بِالْاَثْرِ» «اثر», both the "hamzah" and "thaa" have a fathah, meaning "we are coming after you and will join you."

Benefit:
Greeting the inhabitants of the graves is a supplicatory statement in which one prays to Allah, the Exalted, for their peace and safety. The purpose is not to make the dead hear it, just as when writing a letter to an absent friend, one addresses them with "as-salamu alaykum"—the intent is not direct address, but rather a supplicatory statement. In the same way, greeting the inhabitants of the graves is not intended to make them hear, nor do they hear, just as Allah, the Exalted, addressed the Noble Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the Qur'an, saying: «وَمَا أَنْتَ بِمُسْمعِ مَّنْ فِي الْقُبُورِ» [الفاطر ، 22 : 35]
That is, "You cannot make those in the graves hear."
Source: Bulugh al-Maram: Commentary by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri, Page: 481
Shaykh Dr. Abdur Rahman Freywai
Urdu Footnote:
Note:
(The narrator "Qaboos" in this chain is weak,
but this hadith is established through the narration of other Companions.)
Source: Sunan al-Tirmidhi – Majlis ‘Ilmi Dar al-Da‘wah, New Delhi Edition, Page: 1053