Mishkat al-Masabih

Mishkat al-Masabih 1615

Arabic hadith text

عَن حَارِثَةَ بْنِ مُضَرَّبٍ قَالَ: دَخَلْتُ عَلَى خَبَّابٍ وَقَدِ اكْتَوَى سَبْعًا فَقَالَ: لَوْلَا أَنِّي سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُول: «لَا يَتَمَنَّ أَحَدُكُمُ الْمَوْتَ» لَتَمَنَّيْتُهُ. وَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنِي مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَا أَمْلِكُ دِرْهَمًا وَإِنَّ فِي جَانِبِ بَيْتِيَ الْآنَ لَأَرْبَعِينَ أَلْفَ دِرْهَمٍ قَالَ ثُمَّ أُتِيَ بِكَفَنِهِ فَلَمَّا رَآهُ بَكَى وَقَالَ لَكِنَّ حَمْزَةَ لَمْ يُوجَدْ لَهُ كَفَنٌ إِلَّا بُرْدَةٌ مَلْحَاءُ إِذَا جُعِلَتْ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ قَلَصَتْ عَنْ قَدَمَيْهِ وَإِذَا جُعِلَتْ عَلَى قَدَمَيْهِ قَلَصَتْ عَنْ رَأْسِهِ حَتَّى مُدَّتْ عَلَى رَأْسِهِ وَجُعِلَ عَلَى قَدَمَيْهِ الْإِذْخِرُ. رَوَاهُ أَحْمَدُ وَالتِّرْمِذِيُّ إِلَّا أَنَّهُ لَمْ يذكر: ثمَّ أُتِي بكفنه إِلَى آخِره

Translation

Haritha ibn Mudarrib reported: I visited Khabbab after he had been cauterized seven times. He said, "Were it not that I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say, ‘None of you should wish for death,’ I would wish for it. I remember being with the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when I owned not a single dirham, while now there are forty thousand dirhams in the side of my house." He said: Then his shroud was brought, and when he saw it he wept and said, "Hamza had no shroud except a striped cloak. When it was placed over his head, it fell short of his feet; when it was placed over his feet, it fell short of his head. At last it was stretched over his head and idhkhir was placed over his feet." Ahmad transmitted it, as did al-Tirmidhi, except that he did not mention the report beginning, ‘Then his shroud was brought,’ to its end.

Translation notes
  • بُرْدَةٌ مَلْحَاءُ

    The adjective malḥāʾ is obscure in this textile description; the English witness gives stripes, but the literal color or pattern is not certain from the supplied wording.

    What is the most defensible English rendering of burda malḥāʾ in this report?

  • الْإِذْخِرُ

    The plant name is transliterated because an exact English equivalent is not established here.

    Should idhkhir remain transliterated or receive a botanical gloss?