Hadith Text
وَعَنْ أَبِي إِسْحَاقَ سَعْدِ بْنِ أَبِي وَقَّاصٍ مَالِكِ بْنِ أُهَيْبِ بْنِ عَبْدِ مَنَافِ بْنِ زُهْرَةَ بْنِ كِلاَبِ بْنِ مُرَّةَ بْنِ كَعْبِ بْنِ لُؤَيِّ بْنِ غَالِبٍ الْقُرَشِيِّ الزُّهْرِيِّ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ، أَحَدِ الْعَشَرَةِ الْمَشْهُودِ لَهُمْ بِالْجَنَّةِ، قَالَ: جَاءَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَعُودُنِي عَامَ حَجَّةِ الْوَدَاعِ مِنْ وَجَعٍ اشْتَدَّ بِي، فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنِّي قَدْ بَلَغَ بِي مِنَ الْوَجَعِ مَا تَرَى، وَأَنَا ذُو مَالٍ وَلاَ يَرِثُنِي إِلاَّ ابْنَةٌ لِي، أَفَأَتَصَدَّقُ بِثُلُثَيْ مَالِي؟ قَالَ: لاَ. قُلْتُ: فَالشَّطْرُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ فَقَالَ: لاَ. قُلْتُ: فَالثُّلُثُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ؟ قَالَ: الثُّلُثُ، وَالثُّلُثُ كَثِيرٌ — أَوْ كَبِيرٌ —، إِنَّكَ إِنْ تَذَرَ وَرَثَتَكَ أَغْنِيَاءَ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أَنْ تَذَرَهُمْ عَالَةً يَتَكَفَّفُونَ النَّاسَ، وَإِنَّكَ لَنْ تُنْفِقَ نَفَقَةً تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ إِلاَّ أُجِرْتَ بِهَا، حَتَّى مَا تَجْعَلُ فِي فِيِّ امْرَأَتِكَ. قَالَ: فَقُلْتُ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أُخَلَّفُ بَعْدَ أَصْحَابِي؟ قَالَ: إِنَّكَ لَنْ تُخَلَّفَ فَتَعْمَلَ عَمَلاً تَبْتَغِي بِهِ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ إِلاَّ ازْدَدْتَ بِهِ دَرَجَةً وَرِفْعَةً، وَلَعَلَّكَ أَنْ تُخَلَّفَ حَتَّى يَنْتَفِعَ بِكَ أَقْوَامٌ وَيُضَرَّ بِكَ آخَرُونَ. اللَّهُمَّ أَمْضِ لأَصْحَابِي هِجْرَتَهُمْ، وَلاَ تَرُدَّهُمْ عَلَى أَعْقَابِهِمْ، لَكِنِ الْبَائِسُ سَعْدُ بْنُ خَوْلَةَ — يَرْثِي لَهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنْ مَاتَ بِمَكَّةَ. مُتَّفَقٌ عَلَيْهِ.
Full Translation
On the authority of Abu Ishaq Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him) — one of the ten companions given glad tidings of Jannah — he said:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to visit me during the year of the Farewell Pilgrimage, from an illness that had become severe. I said: “O Messenger of Allah — my illness has reached the state you see, and I am a man of wealth with no one to inherit from me except one daughter. Shall I give two-thirds of my wealth in charity?” He said: “No.” I said: “Then half, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “No.” I said: “Then a third, O Messenger of Allah?” He said: “A third — and a third is much — or large. Indeed if you leave your heirs wealthy, that is better than leaving them poor, begging from people. And you will never spend anything seeking thereby the face of Allah except that you will be rewarded for it — even what you place in your wife’s mouth.”
He said: I said: “O Messenger of Allah — will I be left behind after my companions?” He said: “You will not be left behind and do any deed seeking thereby the face of Allah except that you will increase in rank and elevation by it. And perhaps you will be left behind so that peoples will benefit from you — and others will be harmed by you.”
“O Allah — complete the migration of my companions and do not turn them back on their heels. But the wretched one is Sa’d ibn Khawlah” — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ expressing sorrow for him that he died in Makkah.
Agreed upon.
Meanings of Key Words
Ya’ooduni (يَعُودُنِي) — came to visit me in illness; the Prophet ﷺ personally visited the sick — this was his sunnah
Hajjat al-wada’ (حَجَّةِ الْوَدَاعِ) — the Farewell Pilgrimage; the Prophet’s ﷺ final hajj, 10AH — just months before his death
Waja’ ishtadda (وَجَعٍ اشْتَدَّ) — an illness that had become severe; Sa’d genuinely believed he was dying
Dhu mal (ذُو مَالٍ) — a man of wealth; he had substantial assets and felt the weight of that responsibility at death’s door
Thuluthayn (ثُلُثَيْ) — two-thirds; Sa’d’s first offer — refused
Al-shatr (الشَّطْر) — half; his second offer — also refused
Al-thuluth (الثُّلُثُ) — a third; the maximum permitted for bequest in Islamic inheritance law — and even this the Prophet ﷺ called “much”
‘Aalatan yatakaffafoona al-nas (عَالَةً يَتَكَفَّفُونَ النَّاسَ) — poor, begging from people; stretching out their palms to others in need — a vivid image of dependency and humiliation
Tabtaghi biha wajh Allah (تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ) — seeking thereby the face of Allah; the condition that transforms any spending into worship
Fi fiyyi imra’atik (فِي فِيِّ امْرَأَتِكَ) — in your wife’s mouth; the most intimate, most ordinary, most domestic act of provision imaginable
Darajatan wa rif’atan (دَرَجَةً وَرِفْعَةً) — rank and elevation; every additional day of life lived sincerely adds to your station with Allah
Al-ba’is (الْبَائِسُ) — the wretched, the pitiable one; said with deep compassion, not condemnation
Mata bi Makkah (مَاتَ بِمَكَّةَ) — he died in Makkah; the sorrow was that Sa’d ibn Khawlah had made hijrah and then died in the very land he migrated from — seen as a loss of the full reward of migration
Hadith Lessons
Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas is lying sick, believing he is about to die. He is one of the ten promised Jannah — and yet he is afraid. Afraid of wasting his wealth. Afraid of dying in the wrong place. Afraid of being left behind. This hadith is built entirely from that fear — and the Prophet ﷺ answers every part of it with something that reframes how a believer should think about wealth, life, and ordinary daily acts.
“No. No. A Third — And A Third Is Much.”
Sa’d opens with the most generous offer he can imagine: two-thirds of everything he owns, given as charity at the moment of death. The Prophet ﷺ says no. He tries half. No. He tries a third. The Prophet ﷺ permits it — but immediately qualifies it: “and a third is much.”
This exchange alone overturns a common misconception: that the more you give away, the more righteous you are. The Prophet ﷺ is not discouraging charity. He is protecting something that most people in a burst of deathbed generosity forget entirely — the living people you are leaving behind.
“If you leave your heirs wealthy, that is better than leaving them poor, begging from people.” The daughter Sa’d mentioned — she has a right. His family has a right. Charity given at the expense of dependants who will then have to stretch their palms to others is not the highest form of generosity. It is generosity that creates a hidden burden. The Prophet ﷺ sees what Sa’d’s emotion cannot see in that moment: that providing for your family is itself an act of worship — perhaps a greater one than the dramatic gesture of giving everything away.
The Most Ordinary Act Becomes Worship
Then comes the line that carries the entire chapter on its back: “You will never spend anything seeking thereby the face of Allah except that you will be rewarded for it — even what you place in your wife’s mouth.”
A morsel of food. Placed by a husband’s hand into his wife’s mouth — perhaps while she is ill, perhaps as a gesture of love, perhaps simply during a meal. The most private, most domestic, most unremarkable act of family life.
And the Prophet ﷺ says: if that was done seeking the face of Allah — it is rewarded.
This is the practical conclusion of everything the chapter on intention has been building toward. Intention does not only elevate grand sacrifices. It reaches all the way down into the smallest, most hidden moments of daily life and makes them count. The father who feeds his children with the intention of fulfilling his duty to Allah is worshipping. The husband who provides for his wife seeking the face of Allah is in ibadah. The person who goes to work every morning with the intention of earning halal to care for those Allah made their responsibility — every hour of that work is recorded.
The condition is everything: “seeking thereby the face of Allah (tabtaghi biha wajh Allah / تَبْتَغِي بِهَا وَجْهَ اللَّهِ).” Without that intention, it is just food. With it, it is worship that reaches Allah.
“Will I Be Left Behind?”
Sa’d’s second fear is more personal and more painful: will I miss everything? Will I die here, left behind, while my companions complete their journey?
The Prophet ﷺ answers with one of the most encouraging statements in all of the Sunnah: “You will not be left behind and do any deed seeking the face of Allah except that you will increase in rank and elevation by it.” Every additional day of life lived with sincere intention is not a delay — it is a promotion. Every morning you wake up and choose Allah is another degree added to your station.
And then the Prophet ﷺ adds something remarkable: “Perhaps you will be left behind so that peoples will benefit from you — and others will be harmed by you.” Sa’d did live — for decades after this conversation. He became one of the greatest military commanders in Islamic history, led the conquest of Persia, and built cities that still exist today. The life he feared was “left behind” turned out to be one of the most consequential lives in the history of Islam.
He did not know that lying sick in his room. Neither do we know what Allah has planned for the years we fear are being wasted.
The Sorrow for Sa’d ibn Khawlah
The hadith closes with a detail that is easy to miss but deeply human: the Prophet ﷺ expresses sorrow — genuine, personal sorrow — for Sa’d ibn Khawlah, who had made hijrah and then died in Makkah. He calls him “al-ba’is (الْبَائِسُ) — the pitiable one” — not as condemnation, but as grief. The Prophet ﷺ felt the loss of that man’s full reward on his behalf.
This small closing moment shows us a Prophet ﷺ who was not delivering rulings from a distance. He was present, emotionally present, in every conversation — feeling what the people around him felt, grieving what they lost, caring about outcomes that no one else was tracking.
Three Questions to Close With
When I provide for my family — pay the bills, buy the groceries, cook the food — do I ever consciously make the intention that this is worship seeking the face of Allah? Or does it feel entirely separate from my “religious” life?
Am I carrying the fear that my life is being “left behind” — that I am missing the great deeds — when in truth every sincere day I live is adding rank and elevation with Allah?
Is there generosity I am planning that, if I am honest, would leave those dependent on me in difficulty? And am I willing to hear the Prophet’s ﷺ “no” on that?