Whenever a messenger would come to Hazrat ‘Umar Farooq (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) from any of his governors, then he would ask the messenger regarding the governor’s well-being and condition. However, when enquiring about the governor’s condition, the main purpose of Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) was to find out about the governor’s Deeni condition and well-being, not just his physical health and well-being, as is customary today when people meet and enquire about other people’s condition.
Once, when a messenger met Hazrat ‘Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) and he enquired from him regarding his governor’s condition, the messenger responded saying, “What goodness can there be in him, when I had seen two different types of dishes on his dastarkhaan at one time!”
In other words, it was as though the messenger was indicating towards the fact that the lifestyle upon which Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) left the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) was the actual gauge and benchmark to determine one’s goodness and progress according to the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum).
(Malfoozaat Hazrat Moulana Muhammad Ilyaas [rahmatullahi ‘alaih] pg. 115)
Source: Ihyaauddeen.co.za