Feeling overwhelmed

Umar lying on the ground at al-Abtah

He piled up stones, threw his cloak over them and lay back.

اللَّهُمَّ كَبِرَتْ سِنِّي وَضَعُفَتْ قُوَّتِي وَانْتَشَرَتْ رَعِيَّتِي . فَاقْبِضْنِي إِلَيْكَ غَيْرَ مُضَيِّعٍ وَلاَ مُفَرِّطٍ

Allāhumma kabirat sinnī wa ḍaʿufat quwwatī wa-ntasharat raʿiyyatī. Fa-qbiḍnī ilayka ghayra muḍayyiʿin wa lā mufarriṭ

“O Allah, my age has grown, my strength has weakened, and the people in my charge have spread far. So take me to Yourself without my having wasted anything or fallen short.”

These are the words of ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab, not of the Prophet.

Where this comes from

Coming back from Mina he stopped, made a heap of pebbles, laid his cloak on it and lay down, then stretched his hands to the sky and said this. Then he went into Madinah and gave a sermon.

The full narration

Malik related to me that Yahya ibn Said heard Said ibn al- Musayyab say, "When Umar ibn al-Khattab came from Mina, he made his camel kneel at al-Abtah, and then he gathered a pile of small stones and cast his cloak over them and dropped to the ground. Then he raised his hands to the sky and said, 'O Allah! I have become old and my strength has weakened. My flock is scattered. Take me to You with nothing missed out and without having neglected anything.' Then he went to Madina and addressed the people. He said, 'People! Sunan have been laid down for you. Obligations have been placed upon you. You have been left with a clear way unless you lead people astray right and left.' He struck one of his hands on the other and then said, 'Take care lest you destroy the ayat of stoning so that one will say, "We do not find two hadds in the Book of Allah." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stoned, so we have stoned. By He in Whose Hand my self is, had it not been that people would say that Umar ibn al-Khattab has added to the Book of Allah ta- ala, we would have written it, "The full-grown man and the full-grown woman, stone them absolutely." We have certainly recited that.'" Malik said, "Yahya ibn Said said Said ibn al-Musayyab said, 'Dhu'l-Hijja had not passed before Umar was murdered, may Allah have mercy on him.' " Yahya said that he had heard Malik say, "As for his words 'The full-grown man and the full-grown woman' he meant, 'The man and the woman who have been married, stone them absolutely

Source

Muwaṭṭa' Mālik · 1509

Ṣaḥīḥ
  • Salim al-Hilali: Mauquf Sahih
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