Age and death of Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him)

Amir bin Sa'd said: Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was the last of the Muhajirun to die.

Abdullah (bin Ahmad) said: My father (Imam Ahmad) said: When Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) died he was eighty-three (83) years old, and he died ten miles from Madinah, so he was carried on men's shoulders to Madinah. At that time Marwan was the governor of Madinah. He had accepted Islam at the age of nineteen (19).

Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Numayr said: When Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) died, Marwan was the governor of Madinah, and he led his funeral prayer; he died in the year 55 AH.

Al-Zubayr bin Bakkar said: Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) died at al-Aqiq in his palace, which was ten miles from Madinah, and he was carried on men's shoulders to Madinah. It is said that when he died he was in his seventies.

Yahya bin Bukayr said: Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away at al-Aqiq; he was carried to Madinah, and Marwan bin al-Hakam led his funeral prayer. Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) had said: "I accepted Islam when I was nineteen (19) years old." He passed away in the year 55 AH.

Ibrahim bin Sa'd said: Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away in the time of Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), after his first Hajj, and at that time he was eighty-three (83) years old.

Amir bin Sa'd said: Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) was the last of the Muhajirun to pass away.

Qays said: Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) was owed some money by Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), so Ibn Mas'ud said: Pay back the money that you owe. Sa'd said: "Woe to you! What have I to do with you, and what have you to do with me?" He said: Pay back the money that you owe. So Sa'd said: "By Allah! I think you will certainly meet with harm from me. Are you anything but Ibn Mas'ud, a slave from Banu Hudhayl?" He said: Yes, by Allah! I am Ibn Mas'ud, and you are Ibn Hamnah. Then Hashim bin Utbah said to them both: You are both Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the people are watching you. So Sa'd threw away a stick that was in his hand, then raised his hand and said: "O Lord of the heavens!" Abdullah (bin Mas'ud) said to him: Say something else, and do not curse. So he fell silent, then Sa'd said: "Listen, by Allah! Were it not for the fear of Allah, I would have made a supplication against you that would not miss you."

Amir bin Sa'd said: Sa'd was walking when he passed by a man who was reviling Ali, Talhah and al-Zubayr. Sa'd said to him: "You are reviling people for whom good has already been decreed by Allah. By Allah! You will stop reviling them, or else I will supplicate to Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, against you." He said: You threaten me as though you were a prophet. So Sa'd said: "O Allah! This man is reviling people for whom good has already been decreed by You, so make him an example today." Then a she-camel came, the people made way for it, and it trampled the man. The narrator said: I saw the people following Sa'd and saying: O Abu Ishaq! Allah has answered your supplication.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the people of Kufah complained about Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) to Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), so he sent some men to inquire about him in Kufah. Whichever mosque of the people of Kufah they went to, the people only praised him and spoke well of him, until they reached one of the mosques of Banu Abs. There a man called Abu Sa'dah stood up and said: Since you have asked us by Allah, the truth is that he did not go out with the army himself, he did not judge justly, and he did not distribute wealth equally. So Sa'd said: "O Allah! If he is lying, then blind his sight, prolong his poverty, and expose him to trials." Abd al-Malik said: I saw him molesting slave girls in the streets, and when people asked him: O Abu Sa'dah! How are you? he would say: Old, blind, poor and afflicted with trial; the supplication of Sa'd struck me. Imam al-Tabarani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Abu Sa'dah is the grandfather of Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah.

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: A slave girl of Sa'd, who was called Zira, went out wearing a new shirt, and the wind uncovered her body, so Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) rushed at her with his whip. Sa'd came to stop him, so Umar struck him with the whip as well. Sa'd began to make up his mind to supplicate against Umar, so Umar handed him the whip and said: Take your retribution (qisas). But Sa'd forgave Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both).

Abd al-Malik bin Umayr said: A man from among the Muslims satirised Sa'd and said: "He fights until Allah sends down His help, while Sa'd sits safe at the gate of al-Qadisiyyah. We came back and many women had been widowed, while among Sa'd's wives there is no widow." When this reached Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), he raised his hand and said: "O Allah! Cut off his tongue and his hand from me in whatever way You will." So on the day of al-Qadisiyyah he was struck by an arrow; his tongue was cut, his hand was cut off, and he was killed.

Qabisah bin Jabir al-Asadi said: On the day of al-Qadisiyyah a cousin of ours said: "Have you not seen that Allah sent down His help, while Sa'd sits safe at the gate of al-Qadisiyyah? We came back and many women had been widowed, while among Sa'd's wives there is no widow." When these words of his reached Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: "O Allah! Cut off his tongue and his hand from me." Then an arrow came and struck him in the mouth, and he became mute; then his hand was cut off in the fighting. Sa'd said: "Carry me out on a door." So he was carried out, then he uncovered his back, which had sores on it, and told the people of his excuse, and the people accepted his excuse. Sa'd was not a coward. He said: "I only did this because those words of yours reached me."

It is narrated from Ikrimah bin Khalid that Sa'd said to his son at the time of his death: "O my son! You will never find anyone more sincere in advising you than me. When you intend to pray, perform ablution well, then pray a prayer as though you are certain that you will not pray again after it. Beware of greed, for it is poverty at hand, and adopt independence (from what people have), for that is true wealth. And beware of any deed or word for which you would later have to apologise, and do whatever you wish."

Sa'id bin al-Musayyib said: Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "No one accepted Islam except on the same day on which I accepted Islam, and for seven days I remained such that I was the third Muslim."

Qays said: I heard Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) say: "I am the first Muslim who shot an arrow in the path of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic."

Amir bin Sa'd narrates from his father, Sayyiduna Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him), that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned both his parents for him (that is, he used the words of ransoming with both father and mother). He said: There was a man from among the polytheists who was burning the Muslims, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sa'd: "Shoot, may my father and mother be your ransom." Sa'd said: So I drew an arrow that had no head and struck him in his side; he fell and his private parts were exposed, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed so much that I saw his (peace and blessings be upon him) molar teeth.

It is narrated from Ibn Shihab that when the time of death drew near for Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), he called for an old woollen cloak and said: "Shroud me in it, for I faced the polytheists in it on the day of Badr, and I was only keeping it hidden for this very occasion."

Mus'ab bin Sa'd said: When my father prayed in the mosque, he would keep it light but complete the bowing (ruku') and prostration; and when he prayed at home, he would lengthen the bowing, the prostration and the prayer. I asked: Dear father! When you pray in the mosque you keep it light, and when you are alone at home you lengthen it? He said: "O my son! We are leaders (imams); we are followed."

Amir said: Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) was asked: When did you attain the answering of your supplication? He said: On the day of Badr I was shooting arrows in front of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I would place the arrow in the middle of the bow and say: O Allah! Make their feet tremble, cast terror into their hearts, and do such-and-such to them. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would say: "O Allah! Answer the supplication of Sa'd."

Yahya bin Muhammad bin al-Dahhak al-Hizami narrates from his father, who said: When the two arbitrators differed, Ali bin Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) stood on the pulpit of Kufah and said: "I had forbidden you from this arbitration, but you disobeyed me." Then a young man of brown complexion stood up before him and said: By Allah! You did not forbid us; rather you commanded us and ruined us, and then when there came of it what you disliked, you declared yourself innocent and placed your sin upon us. So Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: "What business is this talk of yours? May Allah ruin you! By Allah! When the community was united, you were obscure within it, and when the trial (fitnah) appeared, you sprang up in it like the horn of a goat." Then he turned to the people and said: "How excellent is the position that Sa'd bin Malik and Abdullah bin Umar took! By Allah! If it is a sin, it is a small sin that is forgiven, and if it is a good deed, it is a great good deed that will be appreciated."

Amr bin Maymun said: When Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was wounded, he began to give his instructions to the members of the Shura: "If the caliphate comes to Sa'd, then that is well; otherwise, whoever becomes caliph should seek his help, for I did not remove him from office because of incompetence or betrayal."

Abayah bin Rifa'ah bin Rafi' said: News reached Umar that Sa'd had a door made for his house, and that (Sa'd) then said: Now the noise (of the people) has been cut off. So Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) sent a man to him and had it burned. Then Muhammad bin Maslamah took him by the hand, brought him out and said: Sit here for the people. So Sa'd apologised to him and swore that he had not said the words that had reached the Commander of the Believers.

Ibn Sirin said: It was said to Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him): Why do you not fight (in the trial)? You are one of the members of the Shura, and you are more entitled to this matter than others. He said: "I will not fight until you bring me a sword that has two eyes, a tongue and two lips, which can tell the believer from the disbeliever. I have fought jihad before, and I know jihad well."

Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We were with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas came, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This is my maternal uncle; let whoever wishes show me his maternal uncle."