حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، أَنَا سَأَلْتُهُ، حَدَّثَنَا هِشَامٌ، حَدَّثَنَا قَتَادَةُ، عَنْ سَالِمِ بْنِ أَبِي الْجَعْدِ، عَنْ مَعْدَانَ بْنِ أَبِي طَلْحَةَ، أَنَّ عُمَرَ، رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ خَطَبَ يَوْمَ جُمُعَةٍ فَذَكَرَ نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَذَكَرَ أَبَا بَكْرٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ وَقَالَ إِنِّي قَدْ رَأَيْتُ كَأَنَّ دِيكًا قَدْ نَقَرَنِي نَقْرَتَيْنِ وَلَا أُرَاهُ إِلَّا لِحُضُورِ أَجَلِي وَإِنَّ أَقْوَامًا يَأْمُرُونِي أَنْ أَسْتَخْلِفَ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمْ يَكُنْ لِيُضِيعَ دِينَهُ وَلَا خِلَافَتَهُ وَالَّذِي بَعَثَ بِهِ نَبِيَّهُ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَإِنْ عَجِلَ بِي أَمْرٌ فَالْخِلَافَةُ شُورَى بَيْنَ هَؤُلَاءِ السِّتَّةِ الَّذِينَ تُوُفِّيَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَهُوَ عَنْهُمْ رَاضٍ وَإِنِّي قَدْ عَلِمْتُ أَنَّ قَوْمًا سَيَطْعُنُونَ فِي هَذَا الْأَمْرِ أَنَا ضَرَبْتُهُمْ بِيَدِي هَذِهِ عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ فَإِنْ فَعَلُوا فَأُولَئِكَ أَعْدَاءُ اللَّهِ الْكَفَرَةُ الضُّلَّالُ وَإِنِّي لَا أَدَعُ بَعْدِي شَيْئًا أَهَمَّ إِلَيَّ مِنْ الْكَلَالَةِ وَمَا أَغْلَظَ لِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فِي شَيْءٍ مُنْذُ صَاحَبْتُهُ مَا أَغْلَظَ لِي فِي الْكَلَالَةِ وَمَا رَاجَعْتُهُ فِي شَيْءٍ مَا رَاجَعْتُهُ فِي الْكَلَالَةِ حَتَّى طَعَنَ بِإِصْبَعِهِ فِي صَدْرِي وَقَالَ يَا عُمَرُ أَلَا تَكْفِيكَ آيَةُ الصَّيْفِ الَّتِي فِي آخِرِ سُورَةِ النِّسَاءِ فَإِنْ أَعِشْ أَقْضِي فِيهَا قَضِيَّةً يَقْضِي بِهَا مَنْ يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ وَمَنْ لَا يَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ ثُمَّ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أُشْهِدُكَ عَلَى أُمَرَاءِ الْأَمْصَارِ فَإِنَّمَا بَعَثْتُهُمْ لِيُعَلِّمُوا النَّاسَ دِينَهُمْ وَسُنَّةَ نَبِيِّهِمْ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَيَقْسِمُوا فِيهِمْ فَيْئَهُمْ وَيَعْدِلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ وَيَرْفَعُوا إِلَيَّ مَا أَشْكَلَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّكُمْ تَأْكُلُونَ مِنْ شَجَرَتَيْنِ لَا أُرَاهُمَا إِلَّا خَبِيثَتَيْنِ لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِذَا وَجَدَ رِيحَهُمَا مِنْ الرَّجُلِ فِي الْمَسْجِدِ أَمَرَ بِهِ فَأُخِذَ بِيَدِهِ فَأُخْرِجَ إِلَى الْبَقِيعِ وَمَنْ أَكَلَهُمَا فَلْيُمِتْهُمَا طَبْخًا‏.‏

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?` 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.`