Prophet Daniel's story includes some of the most remarkable accounts among the prophets, preserved through several different chains of narration.
Allah Saves Daniel from the Lions
Ibn Abi Al Dunya narrated, through a chain of transmission, that Nebuchadnezzar captured two lions and threw them into a pit. He then had Daniel thrown in with them, yet the lions did not attack him, and he remained safe as Allah willed. When Daniel became hungry and thirsty, Allah revealed to Jeremiah, who was in Sham, in the region of Palestine and Syria, telling him to prepare food and drink for Daniel. Jeremiah protested that he was in Jerusalem while Daniel was far away in Babylon, in what is now Iraq. Allah told him to simply do as commanded, and that He would send someone to carry him along with what he had prepared. Jeremiah obeyed, and Allah sent something to carry him all the way to the edge of the pit.
When Daniel saw him, he asked who he was, and Jeremiah answered that it was him. Daniel asked what had brought him there, and Jeremiah explained that their Lord had sent him. Daniel asked in wonder whether Allah had truly remembered him, and Jeremiah confirmed it. Daniel responded with praise, saying that Allah never forgets those who call upon Him, and that He rewards good with good, answers patience with safety, removes hardship after distress, brings reassurance to those overwhelmed, and remains the hope of those whose own strength has failed them.
Daniel's Body Found After Death
Yunus Ibn Bakeer reported, through a chain going back to Abul Aa'lia, that when the city of Tastar was conquered, a body was discovered in the treasure house of Al Harmazan, lying on a bed with a holy scripture beside it. The scripture was brought to Umar Ibn Al Khattab, who had Ka'b translate it into Arabic. Abul Aa'lia said he was the first Arab to read it, describing it as similar in nature to the Qur'an, containing accounts of life, history, songs, speech, and matters yet to come.
Asked what was done with the body, Abul Aa'lia explained that thirteen separate graves were dug along a riverbank, and at nightfall the body was buried and all the graves leveled to conceal which one held the remains, in order to prevent people from disturbing it. When asked why people would want to disturb it, he explained that in times of drought, people would carry his bed outside, and rain would follow.
Asked who they believed this man to be, Abul Aa'lia said he was believed to be Daniel, and that he had been dead for three hundred years when he was found, with nothing changed about his body except the hair of his beard and mustache, since the bodies of prophets are not harmed by the earth or consumed by wild animals.
It was noted that the chain of narration from Abul Aa'lia is reliable, but if the body had truly been there for three hundred years, this would raise a question, since according to a hadith in Bukhari there was no prophet between Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them. The gap between this man's death and the time of the Prophet Muhammad was reported variously as four hundred, six hundred, or six hundred and twenty years, meaning he may have died as much as eight hundred years earlier, closer to the time in which Daniel actually lived. Even so, it remains possible he was someone else, either another prophet or a righteous saint, though the most likely conclusion is that he was indeed Daniel, given his known history of imprisonment under the King of Persia.
It was also reliably narrated that his nose measured about nine inches in length, while another account from Anas Ibn Malik described it as roughly two feet, leading some to conclude he may have been a much more ancient prophet than initially assumed. Allah knows best.
Daniel's Death, According to Hadith
Ibn Abu Dunya reported, through Abu Bilal, that Abu Musa found alongside Daniel's body a holy scripture and a container holding dirhams, a ring, and some ointment. He wrote to Umar about the discovery, and Umar instructed him to send the scripture and some of the ointment, telling the Muslims with him to make use of the ointment, distribute the dirhams among themselves, and keep the ring for himself.
Abu Bakr Ibn Abu Dunya related, without a specific chain of narration, that when Abu Musa was told that this was Daniel, he stayed close to the body, embracing and kissing it. He then wrote to Umar that he had found close to ten thousand dirhams with the remains, money that people used to borrow from, and that anyone who failed to repay it would fall ill. Umar ordered that Daniel be reburied in a secret location, that the money be sent to the public treasury, and that the box and ring be given to Abu Musa as a gift.
It is also related that Abu Musa had four captives dam a section of the river and dig a grave in the riverbed itself, where he buried Daniel. Afterward, he had the four captives beheaded so that no one else would know the location of the grave.
Daniel's Ring
Ibn Abu Dunya also reported, through a chain of narration, that a ring was later seen on the hand of Ibn Abu Barda Ibn Abu Musa. Its gemstone was carved with an image of two lions and a man standing between them, being licked by the lions. Abu Barda explained that this was the ring of the man the townspeople identified as Daniel, taken by Abu Musa on the day he was buried.
The scholars of the town told Abu Musa that in Daniel's time, soothsayers and astrologers had warned the king that a boy would be born who would one day destroy him and his kingdom. In response, the king ordered all baby boys to be killed, but Daniel was instead thrown into a den of lions. There, a lion and lioness began licking him rather than harming him, and his mother later came and retrieved him safely. Abu Musa explained that this was why Daniel had the image of himself and the two lions carved into his ring, so that he would never forget the blessing Allah had shown him in that moment. This account carries a reliable chain of narration.