What he said holding his dying son
He had named him after Ibrahim two years earlier.
تَدْمَعُ الْعَيْنُ وَيَحْزَنُ الْقَلْبُ وَلاَ نَقُولُ إِلاَّ مَا يَرْضَى رَبُّنَا إِنَّا بِكَ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ لَمَحْزُونُونَ
Tadmaʿu-l-ʿaynu wa yaḥzanu-l-qalb, wa lā naqūlu illā mā yarḍā rabbunā. Innā bika yā Ibrāhīmu la-maḥzūnūn
“The eye weeps and the heart grieves, and we say only what our Lord is pleased with. We are grieving for you, Ibrahim.”
Where this comes from
Anas says he saw the child struggling for breath in front of him, and the Prophet's eyes overflowed. The sentence sets out exactly what is allowed and what is not. Tears are allowed. Grief is allowed. What is said out loud is the only thing being held.
The full narration
Narrated Anas bin Malik:The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) as saying: A child was born to me at night and I named him Ibrahim after his. He then narrated the rest of the tradition. Anas said: I saw it at the point of the death before the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). Tears began to fall from the eyes of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). He said: The eye weeps and the heart grieves, but we say only what our Lord is pleased with, and we are grieved for you, Ibrahim
Source
Sunan Abī Dāwūd · 3126
- Al-Albani: Sahih
- Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid: Sahih
- Shuaib Al Arnaut: Sahih
- Zubair Ali Zai: Sahih Muslim (2315)