Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 37414 — The words of Abu Dharr

It is narrated from Abdullah bin Khirash that he said: I saw Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) at al-Rabadhah, and with him was a woman who was sahma' or shahba' (dark-skinned or sallow). The narrator says: Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) was in a black canopy. The narrator says: It was said to Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): If only you would take a woman of higher standing than this one. The narrator says: He said: By Allah, that I should take a woman who keeps me low is dearer to me than that I should take a woman who raises me. People said: O Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), you are grief-stricken over your children; no child of yours survives. The narrator says: At this he said: We praise Allah, who takes children from us in the abode of perishing and stores them up for us in the abode of permanence. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) used to sit on a bedding made of sackcloth and hair. People said to him: O Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), if only you would get a bedding softer than this bedding of yours. At this he said: 'Allahumma ghufran' (O Allah, grant forgiveness). Take what you have been given. We were created as workers for that abode, and to it we shall return.