The Messenger of Allah ﷺ met me and said, "Jabir, why do I see you so downcast?"I replied, "Messenger of Allah, my father has been martyred. He was killed on the day of Uhud and left behind a family and a debt."He said, "Shall I not give you good news of how Allah received your father?"I said, "Yes, Messenger of Allah."He said, "Allah has never spoken to anyone except from behind a veil, but He brought your father back to life and spoke to him face to face. He said, 'My servant, ask of Me what you wish and I shall grant it to you.' Your father said, 'My Lord, bring me back to life so that I may be killed in Your cause a second time.' The Lord said, 'It has already been decreed by Me that they shall not return to it.'"Then this verse was revealed, "Do not think of those who have been killed in the way of Allah as dead" [Al Imran 3:169].
حدثنا يحيى بن حبيب بن عربي حدثنا موسى بن إبراهيم بن كثير الأنصاري قال سمعت طلحة بن خراش قال سمعت
لقيني رسول الله ﷺ فقال لي يا جابر ما لي أراك منكسرا قلت يا رسول الله استشهد أبي قتل يوم أحد وترك عيالا ودينا قال أفلا أبشرك بما لقي الله به أباك قال قلت بلى يا رسول الله قال ما كلم الله أحدا قط إلا من وراء حجاب وأحيا أباك فكلمه كفاحا فقال يا عبدي تمن علي أعطك قال يا رب تحييني فأقتل فيك ثانية قال الرب عز وجل إنه قد سبق مني أنهم إليها لا يرجعون قال وأنزلت هذه الآية {ولا تحسبن الذين قتلوا في سبيل الله أمواتا} الآية
[Its isnad is hasan]. Ibn Majah recorded it in the Introduction, chapter on what the Jahmiyyah denied, no. 190, from Yahya bin Habib with the same wording. Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (al-Ihsan): 9/83, no. 6983, as did Hakim: 3/203, 204. The hadith has corroborating narrations in Ahmad and elsewhere, and the narration of Ibn Aqeel appears in Ahmad: 3/361, and in Humaydi, no. 1274.