عن العِرباضِ بنِ ساريةَ قال: قام فينا رسولُ الله ﷺ ذاتَ يوم، فوعَظَنا موعظةً بليغةً، وَجِلَتْ منها القلوبُ، وذَرَفَت منها العيونُ، فقيل: يا رسول الله، وعظْتَنا موعظةَ مُوَدِّع، فاعهَدْ إلينا بعهدٍ، فقال: «عليكم بتقوى الله، والسمعِ والطاعة، وإنْ عبدًا حبشيًّا، وسترَوْنَ من بعدي اختلافًا شديدًا، فعليكم بسُنَّتي، وسُنَّة الخلفاء الراشدين المهديِّين، عَضُّوا عليها بالنَّوَاجِذ، وإيَّاكم والأمورَ المُحدَثاتِ؛ فإن كلَّ بِدعة ضلالة».
Al-‘Irbāḍ ibn Sāriyah narrated:
1. God’s Messenger (peace be upon him) stood up one day and gave us a strong admonition, that made our hearts tremble and our eyes tearful.
2. People said: ‘Messenger of God, this sounds like the admonition of one who is bidding farewell. Give us a lasting advice’.
3. He said: I urge you to maintain your fear of God
4. and to listen and obey even when the one to obey is an Abyssinian slave.
5. You shall witness after me much disagreement. Therefore, hold on to my Sunnah [i.e. my way] and the sunnah of the rightly-guided ones who succeed me. Hold on tight to it and make sure not to depart from it.
6. Beware of things introduced [into the religion], for each such introduction is a deviation, and every deviation leads astray.
Abu Najīḥ al-‘Irbāḍ ibn Sāriyah belonged to the Sulaym tribe and was one of the people of al-Ṣuffah. He later moved to Syria and lived in Homs. He was one of those referred to in the Qur’anic verse that says: ‘Nor shall those be blamed who, when they came to request you for transport and you said: ‘I have no means of transporting you’, turned away with their eyes overflowing with tears, sad that they did not have the means to cover their expenses’. (9: 92) He died in Year 75 AH 695 CE, but some reports suggest that he died earlier, during the conflict with Ibn al-Zubayr.
