In the month Showâl of the ninth year after the Flight, A’bdullah B. Abu Salûl the hypocrite fell sick, and died in the month Dhu-l-qa’dah of the same year. While he was sick, his holy and prophetic lordship—u. w. b.—condescended to visit him, and on his deathbed his lordship said to him: ‘I have warned thee not to love the Jews, but thou hast not followed my advice.’ A’bdullah replied: ‘Though Asa’d B. Zarârah hated them, his enmity to them could not keep off death from him. O apostle of God, this is not the time for recriminations. The moment of my departure is at hand. I request thee to be kind enough to accompany my bier when I die, and to make me a present of a robe wherein to shroud me.’ It happened that on this occasion the apostle of God—u. w. b.—had two robes on his body, one of which did not touch it, and which he intended to give to A’bdullah; the latter, however, requested him to present him with the nether one, and his lordship assented. He then said again: ‘O apostle of God, I hope thou wilt pray near my bier, and wilt ask God to pardon my sins.’ And his lordship agreed. Authors of biographies—A. h. m. o. t.—relate that the apostle of God —u. w. b.—was present when the corpse of Ebn Abu Salûl was being washed and shrouded, conversing with his son, who was a sincere believer. When the bier of A’bdullah was conveyed to a place called Hanâyr, his lordship rose to accompany it, and to pray over the body; O’mar, however, jumped up from his place, taking hold of the skirts of the prophet—u. w. b.—saying: ‘O apostle of God, wilt thou pray for him despite his having uttered such-and-such words on a certain day?’* His holy and prophetic lordship replied: ‘O’mar, let go my skirts.’ But O’mar still continuing his solicitations, his lordship said: ‘Option has been left to me to pray seventy times for their pardon or not. Had I known that I might obtain pardon for A’bdullah by uttering more than seventy prayers, I would do so.’ By these words he alluded to the blessed verse, ‘Ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask. If thou ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will by no means forgive them.’* In fine, the apostle of God prayed for A’bdullah, and he had not yet left the place of prayer when God the Most High revealed the verse, ‘Neither do thou ever pray over any of them who shall die, neither stand at his grave,’ to the end of the verse,* before the corpse of A’bdullah was committed to the earth. In the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb it is recorded that after Ebn Abu Salûl had been buried, his lordship went to the grave, ordered the body to be taken out, embraced its head, and threw some of the blessed saliva of his mouth into its mouth. The writer of these pages says that there is a difference between this tradition and another, according to which the verse ‘Neither do thou pray over any of them’ was revealed before the burial of A’bdullah, although the author of the Raudzatu-l-âhbâb likewise asserts it to have been revealed before the interment. It is related that when the hypocrites saw the humility manifested by Ebn Abu Salûl on his deathbed towards his lordship, a great many of them were blessed by professing the religion. By the perusal of detailed works anyone may ascertain how the lord of apostleship— u. w. b.—visited Ebn Abu Salûl, who had no equal in hypocrisy, and what had induced that prince to show him so much kindness and favour.