مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 182

It was narrated that Anas said: We were with 'Umar between Makkah and Madinah, and we looked for the new crescent moon. I was sharp sighted and I saw it, and I started saying to 'Umar: Don't you see it? He said: I will see it when I am lying in my bed. Then he started telling us about the people of Badr. He said: the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) was showing us the places where they would fall (in battle), saying: "This is where So and so will fall in battle tomorrow, if Allah wills; this is where So and so will fall in battle tomorrow, if Allah wills." And they started to fall in those places. I said: By the One Who sent you with the truth, they did not miss those places; they fell in those places. Then he ordered that they be thrown into a well, and he went to them and said: "O So and so, O So and so, did you find what Allah promised you to be true? For I found what Allah promised me to be true.” 'Umar said: O Messenger of Allah, are you speaking to people who are now dead? He said: "You do not hear what I am saying any better than they do, but they cannot answer."

Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020