Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah

Narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “The Children of Israel appointed a caliph for themselves after Musa (peace be upon him). One day, he began to pray on a moonlit night above Bayt al-Maqdis and recalled the deeds he had performed. Then he left from there and hung himself with a rope. The rope remained hanging in the mosque and he went away from there and reached the seashore to some people who were making unbaked bricks. He asked them, ‘How much do you earn for making these bricks?’ They explained the whole situation. As a result, he also started making bricks and began to live off the earnings of his own hands. When the time for prayer came, he would pray. The workers reported this matter to their chief, saying that a man is doing such and such. He summoned him, but he refused to go to him. This happened three times. Finally, the chief came riding to him. When he saw him coming, he started to run away. The chief chased him, overtook him, and said, ‘Give me enough time so that I may speak with you.’ So he stopped. The chief spoke to him, and he explained the whole situation, saying, ‘I too was a king, but I fled out of fear of my Lord.’ Upon hearing this, the chief said, ‘I think I will also join you.’ Then he followed him, and both of them began to worship Allah Almighty, until they both died at a place called Ramila in Egypt.” Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) says: If I had been there, I would have recognized their graves by the descriptions which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had mentioned.