Ibn ‘Abbas said that God’s messenger used to commend al-Hasan and al-Husain to God’s protection, saying “With God’s perfect words I commend you to God’s protection from every devil and poisonous creature and from every evil eye.” And he would say, “Your ancestor used to commend Ishmael and Isaac with them to God’s protection.”(Abraham is here said to have done to his sons the same as the Prophet (ﷺ) did to his grandsons.) Bukhari transmitted it. Most texts of al-Masabih have “with them” in the dual.

He and Abu Sa'id reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, “No Muslim is afflicted by difficulty, continuous pain, anxiety, grief, injury, or care, or even by a thorn with which he is pierced, without God thereby making an atonement for his sins.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘Abdallah b. Mas'ud said: I went in to visit the Prophet (ﷺ) when he was jaded by fever, and touching him with my hand, I said, “You are seriously jaded by fever, messenger of God.” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “Yes, I am twice as jaded as any of you.” I said, “That is because you have a double reward.” He replied that that was so and then said, “No Muslim is afflicted by injury, be it illness or something else, without God thereby causing his sins to drop away just as a tree sheds its leaves.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

‘A’isha said she never saw anyone suffering severer pain than God’s messenger. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Ka‘b b. Malik reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a tender plant moved by the winds, sometimes being bent down and sometimes made to stand up straight, till his appointed time comes; but the hypocrite is like the cedar standing firmly, which is unaffected by anything, till it is completely cast down.”( The idea of this tradition is that believers have many troubles during their lifetime, whereas hypocrites escape them.) (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believer is like a plant which is continually swayed by the wind, for the believer is continually afflicted by trial; but the hypocrite is like a cedar tree which does not shake till it is cut down.” (Bukharl and Muslim.)

Jabir told of God’s messenger visiting Umm as-Sa’ib (Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (Isti'ab, p. 781) gives her name in this form, but says she is called by some Umm al-Musayyib) and asking, “What is the matter with you that you are trembling?” She replied, “Fever; may God not bless it.” He said, “Do not revile fever, for it removes the sins of the sons of Adam just as the bellows remove the dross of iron.” Muslim transmitted it.

Abu Musa reported God’s messenger as saying, “When a man is ill or on a journey, what he was accustomed to do when staying at home and well will be recorded for him.”(This refers to his observance of salat, etc., cf. the traditions of ‘Abdallah b. 'Amr and Anas on p. 326.) Bukhari transmitted it.

Anas reported God’s messenger as saying, “Every Muslim who dies of plague is credited with martyrdom.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “There are five types of martyr: one who dies of plague, one who dies of an internal complaint, one who is drowned, one who is killed by his house falling on him, and the martyr in God’s path.” (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Usama b. Zaid reported God’s messenger as saying, “Plague is a punishment which was sent down on a section of the B. Isrs’il, or on people before your time. When you hear of it in a land do not go to it, and if it occurs in a land while you are in it do not go out fleeing from it. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Anas said he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) declare that God who is glorious and exalted said, “When I afflict my servant in his two loved things (i.e. his eyes), and he endures patiently, I shall compensate him for them with paradise.” Bukhari transmitted it.

‘All said he heard God’s messenger say, “No Muslim will pay a sick visit to another in the morning without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the evening, or visit him in the evening without seventy thousand angels invoking blessings on him till the morning, and he will have gathered fruits (the word used here is kharif, one of whose meanings is gathered or plucked fruits) in paradise.” Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud transmitted it.

Anas reported God’s messenger: as saying, “If anyone performs ablution well and pays a sick visit to his brother Muslim seeking his reward from God, he will be removed a distance of sixty years (here kharif is used in another of its meanings) from jahannam.” Abu Dawud transmitted it.

‘Ali b. Zaid quoted Umayya as saying that she asked ‘A’isha about the words of God who is great and glorious, "Whether you publish what is in your minds or conceal it, God will call you to account for it,” ( Qur’an, ii, 284) and His words, "If anyone does evil he will be requited for it.”(Qur’an, iv, 123). She replied that no one had asked her about them since she had asked God’s messenger and received the reply, "This is God’s rebuke of His servant, by means of fever or misfortune with which He afflicts him, even such a matter as something he puts in his sleeve and grieves for when he loses it. The result is that the servant comes out of his sins as the pure gold comes out of the crucible." Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Musa reported the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying, “No affliction great or small afflicts a man but for a sin, but there are more which God forgives.” Then he recited, “Whatever misfortune befalls you, it is because of what your hands have done; but He forgives much.”(Qur’an, xlii, 30) Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Abu Huraira reported God’s messenger as saying, “The believing man or woman continues to have affliction in person, property and children so that they (this is a little difficult to translate. The Arabic has “he”, but the pronoun refers to the man or woman mentioned. I have therefore compromised by using the plural) may finally meet God free from sin.” Tirmidhi transmitted it, and Malik transmitted something similar. Tirmidhi said this is a hasan sahih tradition.

‘Ata’ b. Abu Rabah said Ibn ‘Abbas asked whether he would like him to show him a woman who would go to paradise. When he replied that he certainly would, he said: This black woman came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, “Messenger of God, I am subject to fits and become uncovered, so make supplication to God for me.” He replied, “If you wish you may endure it and be rewarded with paradise, but if your wish I shall make supplication to God to cure you.” She said, “I shall endure it.” Then she added, “But since I become uncovered, make supplication to God that that may not happen.” He then made supplication for her. (Bukhari and Muslim.)

Yahya b. Sa'id said that when a certain man died in the time of God’s messenger another said, “Congratulations to him! He has died without being afflicted by illness.” God’s messenger then said, “I’m sorry for you. What do you know about it? (literally, ‘What makes you know?’ After this one understands some such words as, ‘that lack of illness is a mark of honour.’) Would that God had afflicted him with illness, and it had atoned for his evil deeds!” Malik transmitted it in mursal form.

Ibn ‘Abbas said that staying for a short time and making little noise when visiting an invalid is part of the sunna. He reported God’s messenger as saying, when their clamour and disagreement became excessive, ‘‘Get up and leave me.”(This was during the Prophet's last illness, the disagreement taking place regarding the advisability of the Prophet (ﷺ) giving them further written instructions.) Razin transmitted it.