Abu Ad-Dardaa' went to see Khalid during his final illness and Khalid said to him: "O Abu Ad-Dardaa', when Umar dies you will see things that you dislike." Abu Ad-Dardaa' said to him, "By Allah, I agree with you." Khalid said, "I got upset with him for a certain issue, but when I thought about it when I got sick and felt that death is at hand, I realized that Umar seeks to please Allah in all that he does. I got upset with him when he sent someone to take half of my wealth, and he even took one shoe and I took the other. But he did that to others who had come to Islam earlier than me, and who had been present at Badr. He was harsh with me, but he was similarly harsh with others. I expected him to treat me well because we were closely related, but I saw that he did not care about that and he did not worry about the blame of anyone for the sake of the truth. That is what took away the feelings I had about him. He got upset with me, but it was only because we had different views. I was there in the arena of war, striving hard. I was there and he was not. I used to give based on the circumstances and he did not like that." (1)

When death approached and he realized that, he wept and said, "There is no deed that I have done that gives me more hope, after saying La Ilaha Illa-Allah, than an intensely cold night with a raiding party of the Muhajireen, which I spent carrying my shield in the rain, waiting for the morning to come so that we could raid the Kuffar. You must engage in Jihad. I witness such and such battles,and there is no place on my body the size of a hand span that has not received a blow from a sword or been pierced by an arrow or spear, but here I am, dying on my bed as a camel dies. May the cowards never prosper. I sought death in the places where it may be sought, but it was only decreed that I should die on my own bed." (2)

Khalid asked Umar to execute his will, in which it said, "I entrust my affairs, my estate and the execution of my will to Umar ibn al-Khattab." Umar wept and mourned deeply for him, and the daughters of his paternal uncle also wept for him. It was said to Umar that he should tell them to stop, but he said, "Let them weep for Abu Sulayman so long as they are not eulogizing him or babbling. For the like of Abu Sulayman let the weepers weep." (3)

And he said concerning him, "A hole has developed in the structure of Islam." When Hisham ibn al-Bakhtari came to Umar with some people of Banu Makhzoom, Umar said to Hisham, who was a poet, "Recite to me what you said about Khalid." When he recited it, he said, "You have fallen short in praising Abu Sulayman, may Allah have mercy on him. He loved to humiliate Shirk and its people." Then he said, "May Allah have mercy on Abu Sulayman. What is with Allah is better for him than what he had (in this world). He is missed after his death and he was praised whilst he lived. (4) No one will live forever." (5) He died and was buried in Homs, in Syria, in 21 A.H. May Allah bestow abundant mercy upon him and raise his status among the righteous.

Extracted from Umar Ibn Al-Khattab: His Life and Times, by Dr. Ali Muhammad As-Sallabee, p. 115-117

1. Khalid ibn al-Waleed, by Sadiq Arjoon, 349; al-Khilafah wa al-Khulafaa' p. 198.

2. Siyar A'lam an-Nubala', 1/382; at-Tareeq ila al-Mada'in, p. 367.

3. At-Tareeq ila al-Mada'in, p. 366.

4. Tahdheeb Tareekh Dimashq, 5/116.

5. Khalid ibn al-Waleed, by Sadiq Arjoon, p. 348.