Hanash ibn al-Harith reported that his father said, "One of our
men had a mare which became pregnant which he then slaughtered, saying,
'Will I live long enough to ride this horse?' Then we received 'Umar's
letter telling us to attend to the provision that Allah has given us in
order to make it thrive since there is still time in the business."
Anas ibn Malik reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said, "If the Final Hour comes while you have a shoot of a plant
in your hands and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, you
should plant it."
Abu Nadra said, "One of our men called Jabir or Jubayr said, 'I
went to 'Umar while he was Khalif to ask for something which I needed.
I reached Madina during the night and went straight to him. I am someone
with intelligence and a ready tongue - or he said speech (meaning eloquence).
I had looked at this world and thought little of it. I had abandoned it
as not being worth anything. At 'Umar's side there was a man with white
hair and white clothes. When I had finished speaking, he said, "All that
you have said is correct except for your attack on this world. Do you know
what this world is? This world is that in which we reach (or he said, 'where
our provision is') the Next World. It contains our actions for which we
will be rewarded in the Next World." He said, "A man who knows this world
better than I do worked in it." I asked, "Amir al-Mu'minin, who is this
man at our side?" He replied, 'The master of the Muslims, Ubayy ibn Ka'b.'"
