The merits of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him)

It is narrated from a narrator named al-Qurazi that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) set out towards al-Rabadhah, and the time of his death drew near. He instructed his family: "Wash me, shroud me, and then place me at the side of the main road. Then, to the first caravan that passes by you, say: This is Abu Dharr, the Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so help us with washing and burying him." So they did just that. Then Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived with a caravan from Iraq while the bier was placed at the side of the main road. A boy stepped towards him and said: "This is Abu Dharr, the eminent Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." Hearing this, Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) burst into tears and said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: 'You will walk alone, you will die alone, and you will be raised alone on the Day of Resurrection.'"
I have not been able to identify this narrator al-Qurazi; if Muhammad bin Ka'b is meant by him, then this hadith is munqati' (with a broken chain).
Imam Ahmad recorded it from Ibrahim bin al-Ashtar, from his father, from Sayyidah Umm Dharr, from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with them).
It is narrated from Salamah bin Nubatah that he said: We set out as Umrah pilgrims and headed for the residence of Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), and suddenly we saw him coming, carrying a camel's bone. He reached his lodging, then came to us and greeted us with peace. Then, narrating the hadith, he said to them: "People slaughter camels on particular days and eat them, and I get one bone from every camel slaughtered." A man said: "O Abu Dharr, what wealth do you have?" He replied: "I have a herd of camels and a flock of goats; my son is looking after one of them, and with the other is a black slave whom I bought; he is free. He will serve me for one year and then he will be (completely) free." A man said: "O Abu Dharr, by Allah, in our view there is no one among the people wealthier than your companions (the other Companions)." He said: "By Allah, whatever right they have in wealth, I have the same right." The narrator says: We began to ask him about religious rulings, and a man asked: "O Abu Dharr, among us there is a man who fasts the whole year except for the two Eids?" He said: "He has neither fasted nor broken his fast." The man repeated his statement, and he repeated the same answer again.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Never has this green vault of the heavens shaded, nor this dusty earth carried, anyone more truthful in speech than Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him). And whoever would be delighted to behold humility and lowliness like that of Isa bin Maryam (peace be upon him), let him look at Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him)."
Imam Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah and Ahmad bin Mani' recorded it; in its chain Abu Umayyah bin Ya'la is a da'if (weak) narrator; however, the first part of this hadith is sahih (authentic) on the strength of other reliable supporting reports and corroborating chains, while the part with the comparison to Isa (peace be upon him) is also established in its basis because it is transmitted through various routes.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "I was the fourth of the first four people to accept Islam, that is, only three people had believed before me and I was the fourth Muslim. Then I came to the noble presence of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: 'Peace be upon you, O Prophet of Allah. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, alone, without any partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.'" Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: "When I uttered these words, I saw signs of joy and delight on the radiant face of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: 'Who are you?' I said: 'My name is Jundub, and I am a man of the tribe of Banu Ghifar.'"
This report is in Musnad al-Harith (Bughyat al-Bahith: 928); al-Haythami declared its chain jayyid (good).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr, do you know that I was weighed (in a dream) against forty men, among whom you were included, and I outweighed them all?" (Hearing this) his wife said to him: "It seems as if you were belittled and disparaged in this matter." So he said (rebuking his wife): "Be quiet! May Allah Almighty fill your mouth with dust."
Imam Ahmad recorded this hadith in the Musnad; however, there is weakness in its chain because of a narrator named Khalid bin Yazid al-Murri.

It is narrated from Malik bin Aws (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: I used to hear about Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), and there was no one dearer to me than him whom I had an immense desire to meet and see. (In those days) Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote to him to summon him to himself (in Madinah), because Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) had written to him: "If you have any need of the land of Sham and its people, then take Abu Dharr out of here, for he has made the people around me restless (because of his asceticism and his stern stance)."
So when Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) arrived (in Madinah), the people began calling out to one another: "This is Abu Dharr, this is Abu Dharr!" I too went out with the other onlookers to see him. He entered the mosque while Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) was sitting there. He went to a pillar and prayed two rak'ahs beside it, then came to Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) and greeted him with peace. He neither reviled him nor rebuked him; rather, Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) (only) asked: "Where were you on the day the milch camels of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) were raided (by the enemy)?" He replied: "I was at the well drawing water."
Then Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), with all his strength and in a very loud voice, recited this verse of the Noble Qur'an: "And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah, give them tidings of a painful punishment" [Surah al-Tawbah: 34], until he reached the words of Allah: "what you used to hoard (for yourselves)" [Surah al-Tawbah: 35]. After this, Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered him (to go away) to al-Rabadhah.
This report is taken from the Musnad of Imam Ahmad bin Mani'.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: "Indeed, on the Day of Resurrection I will be, of all of you, the nearest in sitting to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); (for my condition is that) whoever departs from the world in the same state in which I left him (peace and blessings be upon him) in this world (will be near). And by Allah, there is not a single one of you who has not clung to, or become entangled in, something of the world, except me."
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded it in Kitab al-Zuhd.

It is narrated from Abu al-Muthanna al-Mulayki (may Allah have mercy on him) that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out to his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), he would say: "Uwaymir (Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda' (may Allah be pleased with him)) is the wise and sagacious man of my Ummah, and Jundub (Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him)) is the exiled one of my Ummah; he will live alone, death will come to him alone, and Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will raise him alone (as an Ummah of his own, on the Day of Resurrection)."
Musnad al-Harith (Bughyat al-Bahith): 4080; al-Haythami mentioned in Majma' al-Zawa'id that in its chain Abu al-Muthanna al-Mulayki is a da'if (weak) narrator.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (may Allah be pleased with him) that, expressing his wish (in view of the reckoning of the Hereafter and the intensity of the fear of Allah), he said: "My wish is: if only I were a tree that would be cut down and finished off (and nothing of my existence would remain, so that I would not have to face the reckoning)."
Imam Musaddad (may Allah have mercy on him) recorded this athar (report) in his Musnad, and all the narrators of its chain are reliable and thiqat (trustworthy).