27. Attending to this world

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.'" Al-Bara' b. `Azib said: Pompousness is evil. 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 palm-cutting in your hands and it is possible to plant it before the Hour comes, you should plant it." Dawud ibn Abi Dawud said, "'Abdullah ibn Salam said to me, 'If you hear that the Dajjal has come out while you are planting young palm trees, it is not too soon to put it in order, for people will still have livelihood after that." Abu Hurayra reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "There are three supplications which are answered: the supplication of the person who is wronged, the supplication of the traveller, and the supplication of a parent for his child. Jabir reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the minbar. He looked towards the Yemen and said, "O Allah, bring their hearts," and he looked towards Iraq and said something similar. He looked towards every horizon and said the like of that. He said, 'O Allah, provide for us out of the legacy of the earth and bless us in our mudd and our sa'."