I dreamt that a rooster pecked me twice, and I can only interpret it as meaning that my death is near, and there are people who are telling me I should appoint someone to be my successor, but Allah will not cause His religion and the caliphate, with which He sent His Prophet ﷺ, to be lost. If death comes to me soon, then the caliphate is to be decided by these six men with whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was pleased when he died. Whichever of them you swear allegiance to, then listen to him and obey. I know that some people will object to this matter. I have fought them with my own hands in the defence of Islam. If they do that, then they are the enemies of Allah and misguided kafirs. I am not leaving behind anything more important to me than kalalah. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ never emphasised any issue to me since I accompanied him more than the issue of kalalah, and I did not ask him about anything more than I asked him about kalalah, until he poked me in the chest with his finger and said: “O 'Umar, is not ayatus-saif (the verse of summer, i.e. it was revealed in summer), which appears at the end of Soorat an-Nisa', sufficient for you?ʿ If I live I will issue a decree that will be so clear that those who read the Qur'an and those who do not read it will be able to make decisions concerning it. Then he said. O Allah, I call upon You to bear witness over the governors of the regions, for I only sent them to teach the people their religion and the Sunnah of their Prophet and to the divide the fai' among them and to be just to them and to refer to me concerning any difficult matter, O people, you eat two plants which I find to be nothing but repugnant. I remember the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, if he noticed their smell coming from a man in the mosque, he would issue orders that he taken by the hand and led out to al-Baqee', Whoever must eat them, let him cook them to death.ʿ (Using translation from Aḥmad 186)
بِأَنْ أَسْتَخْلِفَ وَإِنَّ اللهَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُضِيعَ دِينَهُ وَخِلَافَتَهُ وَمَا بَعَثَ بِهِ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ فَإِنْ عَجِلَ بِي أَمْرٌ فَالشُّورَى بَيْنَ هَؤُلَاءِ السِّتَّةِ الَّذِينَ تُوُفِّيَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ وَهُوَ عَنْهُمْ رَاضٍ فَمَنْ بَايَعْتُمْ فَاسْمَعُوا لَهُ وَأَطِيعُوا وَإِنَّ نَاسًا سَيَطْعَنُونَ فِي ذَلِكَ فَإِنْ فَعَلُوا فَأُولَئِكَ أَعْدَاءُ اللهِ الْكَفَرَةُ الضُّلَّالُ أَنَا جَاهَدْتُهُمْ بِيَدِي هَذِهِ عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ وَإِنِّي لَا أَدَعُ شَيْئًا أَهَمَّ عِنْدِي مِنْ أَمْرِ الْكَلَالَةِ وَمَا أَغْلَظَ لِي رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ فِي شَيْءٍ مَا أَغْلَظَ لِي فِيهِ فَطَعَنَ بِأُصْبُعِهِ فِي صَدْرِي أَوْ فِي جَنْبِي ثُمَّ قَالَ يَا عُمَرُ يَكْفِيكَ آيَةُ الصَّيْفِ الَّتِي فِي آخِرِ سُورَةِ النِّسَاءِ وَإِنِّي إِنْ أَعِشْ أَقْضِ فِيهَا بِقَضَاءٍ لَا يَخْتَلِفُ فِيهِ أَحَدٌ قَرَأَ الْقُرْآنَ أَوْ لَمْ يَقْرَأِ الْقُرْآنَ وَإِنِّي أُشْهِدُ اللهَ عَلَى أُمَرَاءِ الْأَمْصَارِ فَإِنِّي إِنَّمَا بَعَثْتُهُمْ لِيُعَلِّمُوا النَّاسَ دِينَهُمْ وَسُنَّةَ نَبِيِّهِمْ وَيَرْفَعُوا إِلَيْنَا مَا أَشْكَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَإِنَّكُمْ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تَأْكُلُونَ مِنْ شَجَرَتَيْنِ لَا أُرَاهُمَا إِلَّا خَبِيثَتَيْنِ قَدْ كُنْتُ أَرَى الرَّجُلَ عَلَى عَهْدِ رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ يُوجَدُ رِيحُهُمَا مِنْهُ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِيَدِهِ فَيَخْرُجُ إِلَى الْبَقِيعِ فَمَنْ أَكَلَهُمَا فَلْيُمِتْهُمَا طَبْخًا الثُّومُ وَالْبَصَلُ قَالَ خَطَبَ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْجُمُعَةِ وَمَاتَ يَوْمَ الْأَرْبِعَاءِ لِأَرْبَعٍ بَقِينَ مِنْ ذِي الْحِجَّةِ