The Seal of the Prophets and Messengers (on whom be peace and prayers) wishes for this status. So be aware of and comprehend just what this status is which the best of all creation (on whom be peace and prayers) wishes for. He wishes to be a Shaheed [martyr]: By He in whose Hand s Muhammad’s soul, I wish that I could attack, then be killed, then attack, then be killed, then attack, then be killed." So this long and wide life is summarized by the one upon whom revelation is sent down from the Lord of the heavens and earth (Glorious and Exalted is He). This Noble Prophet to whom revelation is sent down summarizes this life with these words, and wishes for this status. So happy is the one who Allah takes as a Shaheed.

and Azzam saying:

Our words remain dead, like waxen dolls, unmoving and frozen, until when we die for them, they rise up, alive, to live among the living.

Just a quick, possibly interesting-to-you addendum to your comment about the hadith attributed to Abu Hurayra: Usama bin Laden paraphrases this hadith in the introductory segment to "Winds of Paradise," the major al-Qa’ida Central video series about Afghanistan and Pakistan (and specifically about its martyrs).  The introductory segment is the same for all four installments of the series.  I have found a copy of the English subtitled version on YouTube:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijaOJ_gOKDo">Winds of Paradise I (English)</a>

The intro also includes what I think is one of the best examples of the "jihadi nasheed," one which encompasses the popular folklore among jihadis about martyrdom.

Thank-you for cinching the timeline within which Hasan could have accessed al-Awlaki’s ideas.  He had attended his mosque, so we can assume he knew about him.

Reference to poetics is also extremely helpful.  There is oddly, a sort of "romance" to the epic framework of apocalyptic in which a warrior accepts the role of defender of the faith, witness to truth, and sacrificial hero.  (One sees it also in the acts of Christians who are "left behind" in the Jenkins-La Haye rendering of dispensationalism.) Adopting the epic framework of apocalyptic jihad-in-the-path-of-Allah, allows someone who is both lonely and disrespected to attain a heroic status in the new world that his creed ultimately promises him.

The use of I-technology to effect a metanoia in a liminal American like Hasan also warns us of the ability of the enemy to adapt most creatively to our offensive successes.  There is a pattern in this case of turning a person into a threat that we need to grasp, and this discussion really helps in discerning what may have happened.

Al-Qaida has gradually used Americans to entice Westerners, first by using Adam Gadahn as a spokesman to the West, and now by the surfacing of an American Muslim cleric on the Web.  As they say, when one cannot engage in jihad, engage in Dawa, which is a necessary concommitant and/or subsitute means of jihad.