Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 3863

Abd al-Rahman bin Ghanm recorded this narration from al-Harith bin Amirah. He came with Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) from Yemen and stayed with him in his quarter and in his house. The plague struck them; Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Shurahbil bin Hasanah (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) were all struck by the plague on a single day. When Sayyiduna Amr bin al-As (may Allah be pleased with him) sensed the plague, he fled and became extremely afraid, and he said: "Scatter into the various ravines, for a command of Allah Almighty has begun to descend upon you; I think this is a punishment (or filth) and plague." Sayyiduna Shurahbil bin Hasanah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "You are wrong. We kept the company of the Messenger of Allah, while you are more astray than your family's donkey." Sayyiduna Amr said: "You are right." Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna Amr (may Allah be pleased with him): "You are wrong. This is neither plague nor punishment; rather, it is the mercy of your Lord, the supplication of your Prophet, and the manner of the death of the righteous. O Allah, grant the family of Mu'adh the greater share of this mercy." The narrator says: Before evening came, Sayyiduna Mu'adh's (may Allah be pleased with him) son Abd al-Rahman was also struck by the plague. That son was the most beloved of all creation to Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) took his kunyah from him. Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) returned from the mosque and found him in distress. Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O Abd al-Rahman, how are you?" The son answered him and said: "O father, this is the truth coming from your Lord, so never be among those who doubt." Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If Allah wills, we will be among the patient." That son passed away that same night, and the next day Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) buried him. Then Sayyiduna Mu'adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) sent al-Harith bin Amirah to Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah bin al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) to ask him how he was. Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) showed al-Harith that there was a plague wound in his palm. Al-Harith bin Amirah began to weep over Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he was frightened by it when he saw it. Sayyiduna Abu Ubaydah (may Allah be pleased with him) swore by Allah that he would not like to have red camels in place of that wound. The narrator says: Al-Harith bin Amirah returned to Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) and found that he had fallen unconscious. Al-Harith began to weep. When Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) regained consciousness, he said: "O son of the Himyari woman, why are you weeping over me? I seek refuge in Allah from you." Al-Harith said: "By Allah, I am not weeping over you." Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Then what are you weeping over?" Al-Harith said: "I am weeping because my morning and evening connection with you will be cut off." Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Sit me up." Al-Harith sat him up in his lap, and Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Listen to me, for I am about to give you a piece of advice. You are weeping because the morning and evening companionship will be cut off; the place of knowledge is between the two covers of the Mushaf (that is, the Qur'an). If its interpretation becomes too hard for you, then after me seek knowledge with three men: Uwaymir Abu al-Darda', or Salman al-Farisi, or Ibn Umm Abd. And I urge you to beware of the slip of the scholar and of arguing with the hypocrite." Then the throes of death grew severe upon Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), and he suffered throes such as no one else had suffered. Whenever he recovered from a bout of unconsciousness, he would open his eyes and say: "Choke me with Your choking, for by Your might, You know that I love You." When Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away, al-Harith set out from there and came to Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him) in Hims, and stayed with him for as long as Allah willed. Then al-Harith said: "My brother, Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), gave me advice concerning you, Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Abd (that is, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him)); now I think I should go to Iraq." Then he came to Kufah and began attending the gathering of Sayyiduna Ibn Umm Abd (may Allah be pleased with him) morning and evening. Once, while he was in that gathering, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) asked: "Who are you?" He said: "A man from Syria." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The people of Syria are a good group, were it not for one fault." Al-Harith asked: "What is that one thing?" Sayyiduna Abdullah said: "Were it not that they testify about themselves that they are among the people of Paradise." Al-Harith said "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (We belong to Allah and to Him we return)" two or perhaps three times, and then said: "Sayyiduna Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) spoke the truth in what he said to me." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "O my nephew, what did he say to you?" Al-Harith said: "He urged me to beware of the slip of the scholar. And by Allah, O Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud, you are one of two kinds of people: either a man who wakes in the morning with such certainty that he testifies that there is no god but Allah, in which case you are among the people of Paradise; or else a man in doubt, in which case you will not know what your abode will be." Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "My brother spoke the truth. It was a slip; do not hold me to account for it." Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) took al-Harith by the hand and took him along to his home, and al-Harith stayed there for as long as Allah willed. Then al-Harith said: "I must go and meet Abu Abdullah Salman al-Farisi in al-Mada'in." So al-Harith set out until he came to Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) in al-Mada'in. When he greeted Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) with salam, Sayyiduna Salman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Stay where you are until I come out to you." Al-Harith said: "By Allah, O Abu Abdullah, I did not think that you would recognise me." Sayyiduna Salman al-Farisi (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Yes; but my soul recognised your soul before I recognised you. The souls were (in the world of souls) in the form of assembled troops; those that knew one another there are familiar with one another (in this world), and those that were strangers to one another there, for other than Allah's sake, remain apart in this world." Then al-Harith stayed with him for as long as Allah willed, and then he returned to Syria. These, then, were the people who knew one another for the sake of Allah Almighty and visited one another for the sake of Allah Almighty.
Al-Bazzar recorded it. Ahmad recorded part of it. The chain of al-Bazzar contains a narrator, Shahr bin Hawshab, about whom there is criticism; more than one scholar declared him thiqah (trustworthy). Al-Tabarani recorded a part of this narration in al-Kabir.