English Translation

Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Ibrahim, the client of Thaqif, informed us, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah narrated to us, Yahya ibn Sulaym narrated to us, Abdullah ibn Uthman ibn Khuthaym narrated to me from Mujahid from Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar from his father from Umm Dharr who said: When death came to Abu Dharr, I wept. He said: "What makes you weep?" I said: "How can I not weep when you are dying in a desert of the earth and I have no cloth large enough to shroud you?" He said: "Do not weep and receive good tidings, for I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to a group of which I was one: 'One of you will die in a desert of the earth and be witnessed by a band of believers.' And there is none of that group except that he has died in a village with a congregation, and I am the one who will die in the desert. By Allah, I have not lied nor have I been lied to. So watch the road." She said: "How can I when the pilgrims have gone and the roads are cut off?" He said: "Go and watch." She said: So I would go to a sand dune and watch, then return to him and nurse him. While I was doing that, I saw men on their mounts like vultures. They came until they stopped before me and said: "What is the matter with you, O maidservant of Allah?" I said to them: "A man from the Muslims is dying - will you shroud him?" They said: "Who is he?" I said: "Abu Dharr." They said: "The Companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?" I said: "Yes." She said: They offered their fathers and mothers as ransom for him and hastened to him. They entered upon him and he welcomed them and said: "I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say to a group of which I was one: 'One of you will die in a desert of the earth and be witnessed by a band of believers.' And there is none of that group except that he died in a village with a congregation, and I am the one who is dying in the desert. You hear that if I had a cloth large enough to shroud me or my wife, I would not be shrouded except in a cloth of mine or hers. You hear - I make you witness that no man among you who was a commander, or a chief, or a courier, or an appointed leader should shroud me." There was none among the people except that he had engaged in some of that, except a young man from the Ansar. He said: "O uncle, I will shroud you. I have not been involved in anything you mentioned. I will shroud you in this cloak of mine and in two garments in my bag spun by my mother which she wove for me." So the Ansari shrouded him, among the group who witnessed him were Hujr ibn al-Adbar and Malik ibn al-Ashtar, in a group all of them Yemeni.