The Death of Prophet Adam

Adam Grows Old

When death approached Adam, he said to his son: "O my son, I crave some of the fruits of Paradise." His sons went out to find them. The angels met them carrying his shroud (kafan), embalming materials (hanut), and tools for burial.

The angels told them: "Return, for your father's time has been decreed."

The angels took his soul, washed him, shrouded him, embalmed him, dug his grave, prayed over him, and buried him. Then they said: "O children of Adam, this is your sunnah (tradition)."

The Hadith of Adam's Descendants

Allah wiped Adam's back and every soul He would create fell from his back. He placed a gleam of light between each person's eyes. Adam saw among them a man whose gleam amazed him — it was Dawud (David), with a lifespan of 60 years. Adam said: "O Lord, increase his life by 40 years from my own lifespan."

When Adam's lifespan was ending, the Angel of Death came. Adam said: "Do I not still have 40 years?" The angel replied: "Did you not give them to your son Dawud?" Adam denied it. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Adam forgot, and so his descendants forgot. Adam erred, and so his descendants erred." (Ahmad)

Key Vocabulary