Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 7218
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامِ بْنِ عُرْوَةَ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ ـ رضى الله عنهما ـ قَالَ قِيلَ لِعُمَرَ أَلاَ تَسْتَخْلِفُ قَالَ إِنْ أَسْتَخْلِفْ فَقَدِ اسْتَخْلَفَ مَنْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي أَبُو بَكْرٍ، وَإِنْ أَتْرُكْ فَقَدْ تَرَكَ مَنْ هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَأَثْنَوْا عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ رَاغِبٌ رَاهِبٌ، وَدِدْتُ أَنِّي نَجَوْتُ مِنْهَا كَفَافًا لاَ لِي وَلاَ عَلَىَّ لاَ أَتَحَمَّلُهَا حَيًّا وَمَيِّتًا.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said: ʿUmar was asked, “Will you appoint a successor?” He said, “If I appoint one, someone better than me—Abū Bakr—appointed a successor. If I leave the matter, someone better than me—the Messenger of God—left it.” They praised him, and he said, “I am hopeful yet apprehensive. I wish I could come through this with nothing for me and nothing against me, without having to bear its responsibility alive or dead.”
Translation notes
The phrase rāghib rāhib is rendered “hopeful yet apprehensive,” preserving the pairing of desire and fear without specifying further what Umar hoped for or feared. His final wish is to leave the matter with neither credit nor blame and not bear its responsibility in life or death.