Mishkat al-Masabih 5357 — (Ar-riqaq) Words that soften the heart

Abu Burda Narrated from:

Abdullah ibn Umar (رضي الله عنه) said to me, "Do you know what my father said to your father?" I said, "No." He said, "My father said to your father, 'O Abu Musa, are you not pleased that our Islam with Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) (we embraced at his hands), our hijrah along with him, our jihad (crusade) (in which we participated with him, and all our deeds (like salah (prayer) and so on) that we performed along with him - are all (as obligatory on us and) permanent [1] for us. And the deeds that we did after his death, if they offset (the bad ones) are enough to get us deliverance?' Your father said to my father, 'No, by Allah, it is not so. We took part in jihad (crusade) after the death of Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم), offered salah (prayer), fasted and did many pious deeds (like charity), and many people embraced Islam at our hands certainly, therefore, we expect reward for these things.' My father (Umar (رضي الله عنه)) said (to you father), 'By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Umar, I do wish that they (the deeds we did along with Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم)) should be made permanent (and perpetually rewarding) and what we have done after his death should be enough to get us deliverance offsetting one another (good deeds atoning for bad).'" Sayyiduna Abu Burdah (رضي الله عنه) then said, "By Allah, your father was better than my father." [2]