Hadith No: 8
Ibn Zanjuyah - al-Amawal - Book of the Conquests of the Lands and Their Laws and Judgments
Chapter: The Ruling on the Lives of the People of the Dhimmah Among Captives and Those Taken as Spoils ...
Volume: (1) - Page Number: (301)
467 - Narrated to me by Hamid who said: narrated to me by عثمان بن صالح who said: al-Layth ibn Sa'd ibn Abdul Rahman al-Fahmi narrated to me, from Alwan, from Salih ibn Kaysān, from Humayd ibn Abdul Rahman ibn Awf, that his father, Abdul Rahman ibn Awf, entered upon Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may Allah have mercy on him, during his illness in which he passed away, and saw him being somewhat clear-headed. Abdul Rahman said, "I woke up this morning, and praise be to Allah, in good health." Abu Bakr said to him, "Do you think so?" Abdul Rahman replied, "Yes." Abu Bakr said, "I am, despite that, in great pain and what I faced from you, O group of the Emigrants, is a greater burden on me than my pain, because I appointed as your leader the best of you in my view, and you all resent that, wanting the matter to be beneath you." Then you saw the world becoming more favorable, although it is not truly favorable until you make silk curtains and cushions of brocade, and you will find it uncomfortable to lie on Azeri wool, just as one of you today would be uncomfortable sleeping on thorns. By Allah, it is better for one of you to step forward and have his neck struck in a situation without legal repercussion than to plunge into the tumult of the world, and you will be the first to lead people astray tomorrow, driving them away from the path, right and left, O Guide of the Path. It is only dawn or the sea." Abdul Rahman said, "I said to him, 'Ease up on yourself, may Allah have mercy on you, for this is causing you distress regarding your condition. The people are, in your matter, between two types: one is a man who sees what you see, and he is with you, and the other is a man who opposes you, and he is advising you with his opinion. Your companion is as you wish, and we do not know that you intended anything but good, even if you were truly a righteous reformer.'" He fell silent, then said, "Yet, thanks be to Allah, you do not regret anything of this world." He replied, "Yes, I do not regret anything of the world except three things I did, and I wish I had left them alone, and three things I did not do, and I wish I had done them, and three things I wish I had asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) about." As for those I wish I had left alone,
I wish I had not uncovered anything from the House of Fatimah, even though they had closed it off with war, and I wish I had not burned the house of al-Fujā'ah al-Sulami. I wish I had killed him in a state of freedom or let him go in a state of safety, and not burned him with fire. I wish that on the day of saqifah Bani Sa'idah, I had thrown the matter into the hands of one of two men: Umar ibn al-Khattab or Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, so that one of them would be the leader, and I would be the minister." As for those I wish I had done, I wish that when I was brought al-Ash'ath ibn Qays al-Kindi as a captive, I had struck his neck, for it seems to me that he will not encounter any evil except that he will assist it. I wish that when I sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to the people of apostasy, I had stayed at Dhil Qisah, so that if the Muslims were victorious, they would be victorious, and if they were defeated, I would be in a position to engage or to provide reinforcements. I wish that when I sent Khalid to Syria, I had sent Umar ibn al-Khattab to Iraq, so that I could have extended both of my hands in the cause of Allah. As for the things I wish I had asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), I wish I had asked him who this matter belongs to, so that no one would dispute it with him. I wish I had asked him, "Do the Ansar have a share in this matter?" and I wish I had asked him about the inheritance of a niece and an aunt, for I still have some concern about this in my heart.