It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away and the news reached the people of Makkah, Abu Quhafah (may Allah be pleased with him) heard the sound of (people's cries and) alarm. He asked: What is this? The people told him that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had passed away. He said: This is a tremendous calamity. Who, then, has taken charge of the affair (of the caliphate) after him? They said: Your son. He asked: Have Banu Makhzum and Banu al-Mughirah (such great tribes) accepted this? They said: Yes. Then he said: O Allah, there is none who can bring down what You raise, and none who can raise what You bring down. Then, as the year was nearing its end, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away. When the news reached the people of Makkah, Abu Quhafah (may Allah be pleased with him) again heard the same sound of alarm and asked: What is this? The people told him that his son had passed away. He said: This too is a great calamity, yet the calamity before it (the passing of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)) was far greater than this. Then he asked: Who has now taken charge after him? The people told him: Umar bin al-Khattab. He said: He was indeed Abu Bakr's true companion. This hadith is sahih (authentic) on the condition of the two Shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim), but they did not record it. Mention of the virtues of Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib, of Banu Hashim bin Abd Manaf, whose kunyah was Abu al-Harith after his son al-Harith. He was the oldest of those of Banu Hashim who accepted Islam, older even than his two uncles, Sayyiduna Hamzah and Sayyiduna Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and his brothers Rabi'ah, Abu Sufyan and Abd Shams.

Muhammad bin Umar narrates from his shaykhs that Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away one year and three months after Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) became caliph. Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) led his funeral prayer and then walked with the funeral procession to al-Baqi', until he was buried there.

Ibrahim bin al-Mundhir relates that Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him), whose kunyah was Abu al-Harith, passed away in Madinah when two years of the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) had passed.

It is narrated from Ali bin Isa al-Nawfali that when Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) was taken captive at Badr, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "O Nawfal! Ransom yourself." He said: O Messenger of Allah! I have nothing with which to ransom myself. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ransom yourself with your spears that are at Juddah." (On hearing this) he said: I bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah (for knowledge of the spears was not possible without revelation). So he ransomed himself with them, and they were a thousand spears. The narrator says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) established brotherhood between Nawfal and Abbas bin Abd al-Muttalib, and even in the days of the Jahiliyyah the two had been trading partners, equal sharers in their wealth, and loving towards each other. Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) took part with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Conquest of Makkah, Hunayn and Ta'if, and at the Battle of Hunayn he stood firm with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). On that occasion the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "It is as though I see your spears breaking the backs of the polytheists."

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Nawfal bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he sought the help of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in getting married, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) married him to a woman. When he looked for something (for the dowry or expenses), he found nothing. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent his coat of mail with Sayyiduna Abu Rafi' and Sayyiduna Abu Ayyub (may Allah be pleased with them both), and they pawned it with a Jewish man for thirty sa' of barley. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave that barley to them. We ate from it for half a year; then, when we measured it, we found it was just as much as it had been at the start. Nawfal (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I mentioned this to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Had you not measured it, you would have kept eating from it for as long as you lived." As for Rabi'ah, Ubaydah, Tufayl and Husayn (the sons of al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib), they were martyred in front of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Urwah bin al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) that those of Quraysh and the Ansar who took part in the Battle of Badr with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) numbered three hundred and thirteen (313) men in all. Among them, from Banu Abd al-Muttalib bin Abd Manaf, were Ubaydah, Tufayl and Husayn (the sons of al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib). However, there is a difference of opinion concerning Rabi'ah bin al-Harith: it has been said that he lived on after that, reached the time of Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and also narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rabi'ah bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) that news reached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that some people had spoken insolently about him and had said: "The likeness of Muhammad is only that of a date-palm that has grown on a rubbish heap." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) became angry and said: "O people! Allah Almighty created His creation and divided them into two groups, and He placed me in the better of the two groups. Then He divided them into tribes and placed me in the best tribe. Then He divided them into households and placed me in the best household." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "I am the best of you in tribe and the best of you in household."

Hisham bin al-Kalbi says, concerning the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), "And the first blood that I abolish (as blood-revenge from the time of the Jahiliyyah) is the blood of Rabi'ah bin al-Harith," that his son was being nursed among Banu Layth and was killed by Banu Hudhayl. Hisham says: Rabi'ah was not killed; rather, he lived after the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) until the caliphate of Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). The one who was killed at the hands of Hudhayl was his son. Mention of the virtues of Sayyiduna Sa'id bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him):

It is narrated from Abu Umamah bin Sahl bin Hunayf that he came to Syria in the time of Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and a group of the people of Syria met him and asked: What is your relationship to Mu'adh (bin Jabal)? I said: He is my cousin. They said: Shall we not tell you a hadith that he narrated to us before his death, and which he had never narrated to us before that? I said: Of course. So they told me that Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) related before his death that he heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Whoever meets Allah without associating anything with Him will enter Paradise."

Musa bin Jubayr says: I narrated this hadith of Abu Umamah to Salman al-Agharr, and he said: I bear witness that Sayyiduna Sa'id bin al-Harith bin Abd al-Muttalib (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to me from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) exactly the same hadith as the Syrians narrated from Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him). Mention of the virtues of Sayyiduna Khalid bin Sa'id bin al-As bin Umayyah bin Abd Shams bin Abd Manaf (may Allah be pleased with him):