English Translation

Affan narrated to us: Mu'tamir narrated to us, he said: I heard my father narrate: Qatadah narrated to us, from 'Uqbah ibn Abd al-Ghafir, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that he mentioned a man from among those who had passed, or he said, from among those who were before you — then he mentioned a phrase, the meaning of which was that Allah had given him wealth and children. He said: When death approached him, he said to his sons, "What kind of father was I to you?" They said, "The best of fathers." He said, "But he has stored up no good with Allah at all." Qatadah explained it: "He has not saved up any good with Allah, and if Allah has power over him, He will punish him." So when I die, burn me until I become charcoal, then crush me — or he said, pulverize me — then when there is a violent wind, scatter me in it. The Prophet of Allah said: He took their solemn pledges to that effect, and they did that, by my Lord. So when he died, they burned him, then crushed him or pulverized him, then scattered him on a windy day. Then Allah said to him, "Be," and there he was, a man standing. Allah said, "O My servant, what led you to do what you did?" He said, "My Lord, fear of You, or dread of You." He said: So nothing saved him except that He had mercy on him — and he said another time: "Nothing else saved him except that He had mercy on him." He said: I related this to Abu Uthman, and he said, "I heard this from Salman more than once, except that he added, 'Then scatter me in the sea,'" or as he narrated it.