A Long Journey and Little Provision

As Abu Hurayrah lay ill near the end, people came to visit and some prayed for his recovery. He wept, and when asked why, he is reported to have said that he did not weep for the world they were leaving but because the journey ahead was long and his provision was small. He said he was between ascent to Paradise and descent to the Fire, and did not know which of the two he would be taken to.

He gave instructions about his funeral: that no tent should be raised over him and no fire should follow his bier, and that the funeral should be hurried. He is reported to have died in or near Madinah around 57–59 AH, at about seventy-eight.

He was buried in al-Baqi'. The community that remembers him still repeats the du'a for his mother and him that the Prophet ﷺ made, that Allah make them beloved to the believers, and it is hard to say it has not been answered: every generation of Muslims has prayed for him.