We came to al-Irbad b. Sariyah – one of those concerning whom the verse was revealed: “Nor ˹is there blame˺ upon those who, when they came to you for you to mount them, you said, 'I can find nothing to carry you upon.'” – We greeted ˹him˺ and said, “We have come to you as visitors, to inquire after you, and to seek knowledge.”
al-Irbad said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer one day, then turned to us and gave us an eloquent admonition that caused the eyes to shed tears and the hearts to tremble. Someone said, “O Messenger of Allah, it is as though this is the admonition of one bidding farewell; so what do you enjoin upon us?”
He said: “I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to listen and obey, even if ˹you are led by˺ an Abyssinian slave. For whoever among you lives after me will see much disagreement. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided and directed caliphs. Hold on to it, and bite onto it with your molar teeth. And beware of newly invented matters, for every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.”