Is it true that Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "If a mule were to stumble on a road in Iraq, Allah would ask me about it, 'Why did you not pave the way for it, O Umar?'"

The well-known saying attributed to Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him: "If a mule stumbled in Iraq, Allah would ask me about it: 'Why did you not mend the road for it, O Umar?'" has not been reported with a sound or weak chain of narration.

However, a similar wording has been reported from him: "If a camel, or a sheep, or a lamb died on the bank of the Euphrates, I would fear that Allah would question me about it." This narration has been reported through several weak channels, but they are strengthened collectively, making the narration hasan (good) by virtue of its combined routes.

Routes of the Narration: 1. Route of Humaid ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf: Reported by Ibn Abi Shaybah and al-Khallal. It includes Usamah ibn Zayd al-Laythi (truthful but makes errors) and there is a discontinuity between Humaid and Umar. 2. Route of Dawud ibn Ali: Reported by Abu Nu'aim. It includes Yahya ibn Abdullah al-Babalati (weak) and Dawud ibn Ali (weak), and there is a discontinuity between Dawud and Umar. 3. Route of Yahya ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Hatib: Reported by Ibn Sa'd. It includes al-Waqidi (abandoned). 4. Route of al-Hasan al-Basri: Reported by Musaddad and Ibn Asakir. Its narrators are trustworthy, but there is a discontinuity because al-Hasan was born at the end of Umar's caliphate. 5. Route of Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd ibn Aslam: Reported by al-Tabari. It includes Abd al-Rahman ibn Zayd (weak, poor in memorization).

Based on this, the narration with the second wording is hasan (good) by virtue of its combined routes, while the popular and widely circulated wording has no basis.