It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The chief of supplications for seeking forgiveness (Sayyid al-Istighfar) is that a person says: O Allah! You are my Lord, there is no deity except You, You created me, I am Your servant, and I am, as much as I am able, steadfast upon Your covenant and promise. I acknowledge Your blessings upon me, and I confess my sins. So forgive me, for surely none forgives sins except You. If a person says these words in the morning with firm belief in his heart and dies that day, he will be among the people of Paradise; and if a person says these words in the evening with firm belief and dies that evening, he will be among the people of Paradise."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that once a man was having cupping done on the eighteenth night of Ramadan, when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by him at the place of Baqi‘. At that time, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was holding my hand. Seeing him in that state, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The one who performs cupping and the one who gets it done, both their fasts are broken."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that I have remembered two things from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Allah has prescribed kindness in everything. Therefore, when you kill (in the battlefield), kill in a good manner, and when you slaughter an animal, slaughter it well. You should sharpen your knife and give comfort to the animal.

Hassan bin Atiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) says that Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) was on a journey, and when he camped at a place, he said to his servant, "Bring a knife, we will play with it." I expressed astonishment at this, so he said, "Since I accepted Islam, I have always restrained my tongue when speaking, but this sentence slipped from my mouth today. Do not remember it, and what I am about to say now, remember it. I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: 'When people are gathering treasures of gold and silver, you should gather the treasure of these words: O Allah! I ask You for steadfastness in the religion, firmness upon guidance, the ability to give thanks for Your blessings, the ability to worship You in the best manner, a sound heart, and a truthful tongue. I also ask You for the good of what You know, and seek refuge in You from the evil of what You know, and I seek Your forgiveness for all those sins which You know, for surely You are the Knower of the unseen.'"

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that once the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty folded the earth for me until I saw its east and west, and the rule of my Ummah will reach as far as the earth was folded for me. I have been given two treasures, one white and one red. I asked my Lord that He not destroy my Ummah by a general famine, nor impose upon them an enemy who would completely annihilate them and divide them into different groups so that they taste the suffering from one another. So the Lord of the worlds said: O Muhammad! I have made a decision that cannot be changed. I accept your request for your Ummah that I will not destroy them by a general famine, nor will I impose upon them an enemy who will completely annihilate them, but they themselves will kill and imprison each other." And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said that he fears misguided leaders for his Ummah. When the sword is once placed among my Ummah (when war breaks out), it will not be lifted until the Day of Resurrection.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that I have memorized two things from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): Allah Almighty has prescribed kindness in everything. Therefore, when you kill (in the battlefield), kill in a good manner, and when you slaughter an animal, slaughter it well. You should sharpen your knife and give comfort to your animal.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad (may Allah be pleased with him) that I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: The one who applies cupping and the one to whom it is applied, both their fasts are broken.

Abu Ash'ath says that he set out towards the mosque of Damascus at noon, and on the way, he met Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him), and with him was Sanabihi. I asked, "May Allah have mercy on you, where are you intending to go?" He replied, "There is a brother here who is ill; we are going to visit him." So I also went along with them. When both of them reached him, they asked, "How are you?" He replied, "I am fine." Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "Glad tidings to you, your sins have been atoned for and your sins forgiven, because I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say that Allah Almighty says: When I test any of My believing servants and he praises Me during his trial, then when he rises from his bed, he is as pure from his sins as the day his mother gave birth to him. And the Lord says: I have confined My servant and tested him, so write for him the reward of all those deeds which he used to do in a state of health."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that once a man was having cupping done on the eighteenth night of Ramadan when the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by him at the place of Baqi‘. At that time, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was holding my hand. Seeing him in that state, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The one who does cupping and the one who gets it done, both their fasts are broken."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Shaddad bin Aws (may Allah be pleased with him) that one day he began to weep. Someone asked him the reason for his weeping, so he replied: I remembered something I heard from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and that is what made me weep. I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: I fear for my Ummah from shirk and hidden desires. I asked, O Messenger of Allah! Will your Ummah commit shirk after you? The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes! But they will not worship the moon, the sun, stones, or idols; rather, they will perform their deeds for show (riya). And as for hidden desires, it means that a person keeps a fast, then a desire comes before him, and because of it, he breaks his fast.