Mishkat al-Masabih
Mishkat al-Masabih 5977
وَعَنْ أَبِي مُوسَى عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: «إِنَّ اللَّهَ إِذَا أَرَادَ رَحْمَةَ أُمَّةٍ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ قَبَضَ نَبِيَّهَا قَبْلَهَا فَجَعَلَهُ لَهَا فَرَطًا وَسَلَفًا بَيْنَ يَدَيْهَا وَإِذَا أَرَادَ هَلَكَةَ أُمَّةٍ عَذَّبَهَا وَنَبِيُّهَا حَيٌّ فَأَهْلَكَهَا وَهُوَ يَنْظُرُ فَأَقَرَّ عَيْنَيْهِ بِهَلَكَتِهَا حِينَ كذَّبُوه وعصَوْا أمره» . رَوَاهُ مُسلم
Abu Musa reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: ‘When God intends mercy for a community among His servants, He takes its Prophet before it and makes him its forerunner and predecessor. When He intends a community’s destruction, He punishes it while its Prophet is still alive and destroys it as he looks on, bringing comfort to his eyes through its destruction when they denied him and disobeyed his command.’ [Muslim transmitted it]