Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Ansari

Sahl ibn Sa'd al-Sa'idi al-Ansari (died ca. 88 AH / 707 CE) was one of the last surviving Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, living to a very advanced age and becoming a precious living link to the prophetic era. He was from the tribe of Sa'ida of the Khazraj in Medina. He was a young boy when he first encountered the Prophet ﷺ and narrated many hadith from him, including accounts of events he witnessed as a child.

He is remembered for a famous hadith about the construction and features of the Prophet's pulpit (minbar), which he described from personal memory as having been built from a particular type of wood at the request of a woman in Medina. His narrations about the physical details of Medina, the mosque, and the Prophet's household are among the most direct testimonies to the material world of early Islam.

Sahl ibn Sa'd outlived virtually all the major Companions, witnessing the entire span of Islamic history from the first migrations through the Umayyad caliphate. He lived through the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Hasan, Muawiyah, Yazid, and several successors. His longevity made him one of the last direct sources for prophetic hadith in the late first century of the Hijra.

He died in Medina around 88 AH at an age variously reported between 91 and 100 years. His death marked the passing of the last generation who had personally seen and heard the Prophet ﷺ. Hadith scholars cite him frequently in the chains of transmission, and his narrations are preserved in all the major collections.