While narrating the hadiths concerning the creation of the Prophet Adam, we mentioned that when Adam's progeny was brought forth from his loins, he saw the prophets among them. Among the prophets, he saw a man with a radiant countenance and asked: "O my Lord! Who is this?" Allah, the Exalted, replied: "This is your son, David."
Adam said: "O Lord, how long will his lifespan be?"
Allah, the Exalted, said: "It will be sixty years."
Adam said: "O Lord, increase his lifespan."
Allah, the Exalted, said: "No, that is not possible. However, I can add to his lifespan by taking from yours."
The lifespan of the Prophet Adam was one thousand years. Allah, the Exalted, took forty years from his lifespan and added them to David's. According to this calculation, when Adam's lifespan came to an end, the Angel of Death came to him to take his soul. Adam said: "I still have forty years left." He had forgotten that he had given forty years of his own life to David. Thereupon, Allah, the Exalted, completed Adam's lifespan as one thousand years and David's as one hundred years.
This was narrated by Ahmad b. Hanbal from Ibn ʿAbbās.
Ibn Jarīr said: According to the claim of the People of the Book, the lifespan of the Prophet David was seventy-seven years. I say that this is an error that is returned to them. They also claim that David's reign lasted forty years. This can be accepted, as there is no transmission among us that contradicts this, nor do we have any basis to confirm it.
As for the death of the Prophet David, regarding this, Imām Ahmad said in his work "Musnad": Qubaysa narrated from Abū Hurayra that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Prophet David had an intense sense of honor and jealousy. When he left the house, he would lock all the doors, and no one could enter upon his family until he returned. One day, he left the house and locked the doors. At that moment, his wife went out and checked the rooms of the house. She saw a man standing in the very middle of the house. She said to those in the house: 'How did this man enter the house when the doors were locked? By Allah, we will embarrass David.' Later, when David returned home, he saw the man still standing in the middle of the house. He asked him: 'Who are you?' The man replied: 'I am one who does not fear kings and is not hindered by barriers.' David said to him: 'Then, by Allah, you are the Angel of Death. The command of Allah is above us.' After a while, the Angel of Death took his soul. After his body was washed, shrouded, and the preparations were completed, the sun rose. His son Solomon commanded the birds: 'Shade the body of David.' The birds shaded him until evening. Then Solomon commanded the birds: 'Now fold your wings.'"
Abū Hurayra said: While narrating this hadith, the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) clapped his hands together to demonstrate how the birds spread and folded their wings over David's body. That day, birds with long wings provided shade.
Suddi narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that he said: "David (peace be upon him) died suddenly. His death occurred on a Saturday. The birds shaded his body."
Ishaq b. Bishr narrated from Hasan that he said: "David (peace be upon him) died suddenly on a Wednesday at the age of 100."
Abū's-Sakan al-Ḥijrī said: "Abraham the Friend died suddenly. David died suddenly. His son Solomon also died suddenly. May Allah's blessings and peace be upon them all."
It is narrated from some that the Angel of Death came to David while he was descending from the miḥrāb (prayer niche). David said to him: "Let me either descend from the miḥrāb or ascend to it again." The Angel of Death said to him: "O Prophet of Allah! The years, months, deeds, and provisions have come to an end. Now your appointed time has arrived." Thereupon, the Prophet David prostrated on the steps of the miḥrāb, and the Angel of Death took his soul while he was in prostration.
Ishaq b. Bishr narrated from Wahb b. Munabbih that he said: People attended the funeral of the Prophet David, sitting and waiting under the sun on a summer day. That day, 40,000 monks attended David's funeral, as well as other people. The monks wore their cloaks. Among the Children of Israel, no one was mourned as much as David, except for Moses and Aaron. They were deeply grieved by his death. Those who attended the funeral suffered greatly from the heat of the sun. The people asked the Prophet Solomon, David's son, to provide them with shade from the heat. Solomon then called out to the birds. The birds responded to his command, came, and shaded the people. They formed a flock like a cloud in every part of the sky, protecting the people from the heat of the sun. So much so that all winds were stilled. Then the people were about to die from the suffocation. They asked the Prophet Solomon to let some wind blow. Solomon then commanded the birds to open the side from which the wind would come and to cover only the side from which the sunlight was coming. The birds carried out the command, and the people remained in a shaded area with a breeze. Thus, the people present witnessed Solomon's sovereignty for the first time.
Ḥāfiẓ Abū Yaʿlā narrated from Abū Dardāʾ that the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him) said: He took from among his Companions (ṣaḥāba), and they did not fall into tribulation nor did they change their religion. The companions of the Messiah (Jesus) also followed his path and practiced his sharia (sacred law) for two hundred years. This is a strange hadith. Allah knows best the truth of the matter.