What is the authenticity of the narration mentioned in the book "Kanz al-Ummal fi Sunan al-Aqwal wal-Af'al" by Ala al-Din Ali ibn Husam al-Din al-Muttaqi al-Hindi al-Burhan Furi, which recounts the story of Umar ibn al-Khattab going to a young imam who was singing a poem beginning with "And my heart, every time I admonished it, it returned to pleasures seeking my share" and ending with "O soul, may you not exist, nor may desire exist; fear Allah, be afraid, and be awe-struck," whereupon Umar wept and said, "Thus, let everyone who sings, sing," and then said, "O soul, may you not exist, nor may desire exist; death is lying in wait, be afraid, and be awe-struck"?
None of the scholars of hadith have ruled on the authenticity or weakness of the story concerning the woman about whom 'Umar ibn al-Khattab and 'Ali ibn Abi Talib passed judgment. Some hadith narrators transmitted it, but its chains of transmission (isnad) are weak due to the unknown identity (jahalah) of some of its narrators and an interruption (inqita') in the chain, as Al-Hasan al-Basri did not hear directly from 'Umar. However, Al-Shatibi's use of it as an evidence and the silence of the verifiers suggest that there is nothing objectionable in its meaning, so it can be used for corroboration.
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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