The one ﷺ for whom the trunk of the palm wept



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اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مَنْ بَكَى إِلَيْهِ الْجِذْعُ وَحَنَّ لِفِرَاقِهِ
O Allah, bless the one for whom the trunk of the palm wept and sighed when parted from him
(Dala'il Al Khayrat 2:79)

The story of the palm trunk
The early mosque in Madina was constructed of the trunks of palm trees with a roof laid on top of them. When the Prophet ﷺ addressed the people, he would lean against one of the trunks. Later a pulpit (minbar) was built for him, and the trunk of the palm tree (that the Prophet ﷺ used to lean on) wept, making a sound like a camel. The Prophet then came to it and placed his hand on it. Then it was still.

In the hadith of narrated by Burayda, the Prophet ﷺ said, “If you like, I will put you back in the garden where you came from, so your roots can grow and your form will be complete and you will have fruit and leaves again. Or, if you like, I will plant you in the Garden [Jannah] so that the friends of Allah can eat from your fruit.” The Prophet ﷺ listened to hear what it would say.

It said, “Yes, plant me in the Garden [Jannah] so that the friends of Allah can eat from me and I will be in a place where I will not decay.”

The Prophet ﷺ said, “It has chosen the Lasting Abode over the Passing Abode.” When al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali told the story, he wept and said, “Slaves of Allah, the wood yearned for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, longing for him because of his position. You are the ones who should yearn to meet him.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then commanded that it be buried under the minbar. When the mosque was rebuilt, Ubayy took it and it remained in his possession until termites consumed it and it turned to dust.

The main hadith has been related by about ten of the Companions, including Ubayy ibn Kalb, Jarir ibn ‘Abdullah, Anas ibn Malik, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Abbas, Sahl ibn Sa‘d, Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, Burayda, Umm Salama, and alMuttalib ibn Abi Wada‘a. All of them have related a version of this hadith.

Sources: Al Shifa of Qadi Iyad


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