Jami' al-Saghir / Jam' al-Jawami' (al-Suyuti) 2-3463b

Translation

Machine translation, not reviewed

"From 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas: that 'Umar ibn al-Khattab set out for Sham, and when he reached Sargh, the commanders of the armies, Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah and his companions, met him and informed him that the plague had broken out in Sham. 'Umar said: 'Call the early Muhajirun to me.' He called them and consulted them, and they disagreed. Some of them said: 'You have set out for a matter, and we do not think you should turn back from it.' Some of them said: 'With you are the rest of the people and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we do not think you should bring them upon this plague.' He said: 'Withdraw from me.' Then he said: 'Call the Ansar to me.' They called them and he consulted them, and they followed the way of the Muhajirun and disagreed as they had disagreed. He said: 'Withdraw from me.' Then he said: 'Call to me those of the elders of Quraysh who are here, from among the emigrants of the Conquest.' He called them, and no two of them disagreed. They said: 'We think you should return with the people and not bring them upon this plague.' 'Umar called out among the people: 'I am departing in the morning on the back of a mount, so depart in the morning upon it.' Abu 'Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah said: 'Are you fleeing from the decree of Allah?' He said: 'If anyone other than you had said it, O Abu 'Ubaydah... Yes, we flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah. Do you see, if you had camels and they descended into a valley that has two slopes, one fertile and the other barren, would you not, if you pastured the fertile one, pasture it by the decree of Allah, and if you pastured the barren one, pasture it by the decree of Allah?' He said: 'Then 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf came, and he had been absent on some errand. He said: 'I have knowledge of this. I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: When you hear of it in a land, do not enter upon it, and when it occurs in a land while you are in it, do not leave it fleeing from it.' He said: 'So 'Umar praised Allah, then he turned back.'"

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