Umar’s advice to his son from his deathbed


Ibn Abi’-Dunya narrated that Yahya ibn Abi Rashid al-Basri said: Umar [radiAllahu anhu] said to his son,

Be economical with my shroud, for if there is good for me with Allah, He will exchange it for me for that which is better than it. If I have been otherwise, He will strip me and be very fast in stripping me.

Be economical in the grave you dig for me, for if there is good for me with Allah, He will expand it for me as far as my sight can reach. If I have been otherwise, He will tighten it upon me until my ribs interlace.

Let not a woman go out with me (to the grave), and do not attribute to me a purity that I do not have, for Allah has more knowledge of me.

When you go out (with me to the grave) then hasten your pace, for if there is good for me with Allah, you will send me on to what is better for me. If I am otherwise, you will throw an evil you have been carrying down from your necks.”

[al-Khulafa’ ar-Rashidun, page- 166]