Malik bin Marthad narrates from his father, who narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: "I was a quarter of Islam; three people accepted Islam before me and I was the fourth. I came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! Peace be upon you. I bear witness that there is no true god except Allah, and that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is His servant and Messenger. (On hearing this) I saw signs of joy and delight on the blessed face of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)."

Malik bin Marthad narrates from his father, who narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him), that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The dusty earth has not carried, nor has the green sky shaded, anyone more truthful of tongue or more faithful to his word than Abu Dharr; he resembles Isa bin Maryam." On hearing this Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah! Shall we acknowledge this rank for him? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, recognise this rank for him." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of Imam Muslim, but the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) did not record it. It is also narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr and Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with them). The hadith of Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) is as follows:

It is narrated from Abu Harb al-Dili that he said: I heard Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Amr (may Allah be pleased with them both) say: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "The sky has not shaded, nor has the earth carried, any man more truthful of tongue than Abu Dharr." And the hadith of Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) is as follows:

Bilal bin Abi al-Darda narrates from his father Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The sky has not shaded, nor has the earth carried, anyone more truthful of tongue than Abu Dharr." Chapter on the trial of Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him): Mus'ab bin Sa'd bin Abi Waqqas narrates from his father, who narrates from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) through several authentic chains, that he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The people most severely tried are the prophets, then the scholars, then those nearest to them in rank, then those next nearest."

Abu Uthman al-Nahdi narrates from Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me: "O Abu Dharr! How will you be when you are left among worthless and wicked people?" And he (peace and blessings be upon him) interlaced his fingers. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Then what do you command me? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Be patient, be patient, be patient. Deal kindly with people according to their manners, and oppose them in their evil deeds." This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it.

Al-Muntasir bin Umarah bin Abi Dharr al-Ghifari narrates from his father, who narrates from his grandfather (Sayyiduna Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the time (of the Hour) draws near, the wearing of the taylasan (a particular kind of shawl) will become widespread, trade will abound, wealth will increase, the wealthy man will be considered great because of his wealth, indecency will become common, there will be the rule of children, women will become many, the ruler will be unjust, there will be cheating in measure and weight, a man will find raising a puppy better than raising his own child, the elderly will not be respected, the young will not be shown mercy, and children of fornication will become many, until a man will commit indecency with a woman in the middle of the road, and the best of them in that time will be the one who says: If only you two had moved aside from the road. They will wear the skins of sheep over the hearts of wolves (that is, outwardly pious and inwardly oppressive). In that time the best of them will be the one who compromises (in religion, with flattery and smooth talk)." Sayf bin Miskin is alone in narrating this hadith from al-Mubarak bin Fadalah, and al-Mubarak bin Fadalah is a trustworthy (thiqah) narrator.

It is narrated from Imran bin Hittan that he said: I came to Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) and found him sitting alone in the mosque, wrapped in a black cloak with his knees drawn up. I asked: "O Abu Dharr! What is this solitude?" He said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Solitude is better than an evil companion, and a righteous companion is better than solitude. Dictating (or speaking) good is better than silence, and silence is better than dictating (or speaking) evil."

It is narrated from Abd al-Rahman bin Ghanm that he said: I was with Sayyiduna Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) when a man came from the direction of Madinah. He gave him bad news and told him that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) had been exiled to al-Rabadhah. At this Abu al-Darda (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (We belong to Allah and to Him we return). Even if Abu Dharr were to cut off a limb or a hand of mine, I would not speak ill of him, for I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) say: 'The blue sky has not shaded, nor has the dusty earth carried, any man more truthful of tongue than Abu Dharr.'"

It is narrated from Abdullah bin al-Samit that he said: Umm Dharr (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "By Allah! Sayyiduna Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) did not exile Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him); rather the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had said (to him): 'When the buildings (of Madinah) reach Sal' (hill), then leave it.'" Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that when the buildings reached Sal' and went even beyond it, Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) left for Syria. And the narrator mentioned the rest of the long hadith. This hadith has an authentic (sahih) chain on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. The detailed hadith on this topic is that of al-A'mash, which he narrated from Abu Wa'il, from Hallam bin Jazl al-Ghifari; I have left it out because of some of its wording and also because of its length, and have confined myself to the two authentic chains.

Khalifah bin Khayyat states that Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away at al-Rabadhah in the year thirty-two (32) AH, and Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) led his funeral prayer, and in that same year Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) also passed away. And Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) leading his funeral prayer is not something unlikely, for it is narrated through another chain that he was among the group of the people of Kufah who stopped to offer the funeral prayer over him.