Al-Adab Al-Mufrad
Book 55, Hadith 1
حَدَّثَنَا سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ حَرْبٍ، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادُ بْنُ زَيْدٍ، عَنْ أَيُّوبَ، عَنْ أَبِي الْمَلِيحِ، عَنْ رَجُلٍ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ، وَكَانَتْ لَهُ صُحْبَةٌ، قَالَ: قَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ قَبْضَ عَبْدٍ بِأَرْضٍ جَعَلَ لَهُ بِهَا حَاجَةً.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Sulayman ibn Harb related to us: Hammad ibn Zayd related to us, from Ayyub, from Abu al-Malih, from a man of his people who had been a Companion, who said: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘When Allah wills to take a servant’s life in a land, He gives him a need there.’
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The Arabic uses “take” as a euphemism for death and says Allah makes/places a need for the person in that land.
إِذَا أَرَادَ اللَّهُ قَبْضَ عَبْدٍ بِأَرْضٍ جَعَلَ لَهُ بِهَا حَاجَةً
The source uses a euphemism for death and a compact expression for the need that brings the person to that land.
Would “creates a need for him there” better preserve the wording than “gives him a need there”?