“About this time, recognising Omar and some other chief men in the room, he called out, ‘Bring hither to me ink and paper, that I may record for you a writing which shall prevent your going astray for ever.’ Omar said, ‘He wandereth in his mind. Is not the Corân sufficient for us?’ But the women wished that the writing materials should be brought; and a discussion ensued. Thereupon one said, ‘What is his condition at this present moment? Come, let us see whether he speaketh deliriously or not.’ So they went and asked him what his wishes were regarding the writing he had spoken of; but he no longer desired to indite it. ‘Leave me thus alone,’ he said, ‘for my present state is better than that ye call me to.’
“In the course of this day, Mahomet called Ayesha to him, and said, ‘Where is that gold which I gave unto thee to keep?’ On her replying that it was by her, he desired that she should spend it at once in charity. Then he dozed off in a half-conscious state; and some time after asked if she had done as he desired her. On her saying that she had not yet done so, he called for the money (which was apparently a portion of the tithe income); she placed it in his hand, and counted six golden dinars. He directed that it should be divided among certain indigent families; and then lying down, he said, ‘Now I am at peace. Verily it would not have become me to meet my Lord, and this gold in my possession.’
“All Sunday night the illness of Mahomet continued unabated. He was overheard praying: one of the ejaculations was to this effect: ‘O my soul! Why seekest thou for refuge elsewhere than in God alone?’ The morning brought some measure of relief. The fever and the pain abated; and there was an apparent return of strength.
“The dangerous crisis of the Prophet’s sickness on the preceding night having become known throughout the city, the mosque was crowded in the morning, at the hour of prayer, by men and women, who came seeking anxiously for tidings. Abu Bakr, as usual, led the devotions; as Imâm he stood in the place of Mahomet before the congregation, his back turned towards them. He had ended the first Rakáat, or series of prostrations, and the people had stood up again for a second, when the curtain of Ayesha’s door (to the left of the audience, and a little way behind Abu Bakr) slowly moved aside, and Mahomet himself appeared. As he entered the assembly, he whispered in the ear of Fadhl (Faẓl), son of Abbas, who with a servant supported him: ‘The Lord verily hath granted unto me refreshment in prayer’; and he looked around with a gladsome smile, marked by all who at the moment caught a glimpse of his countenance. That smile no doubt was the index of deep emotion in his heart. What doubts or fears may have crossed the mind of Mahomet, as he lay on the bed of death, and felt that the time was drawing nigh when he must render an account to that God whose messenger he professed to be, tradition affords us no grounds even to conjecture. The rival claims of Aswad and Museilama had, perhaps, suggested misgivings, such as those which had long ago distracted his soul. What if he, too, were an impostor, deceiving himself and deceiving others also! If any doubts and questionings of this nature had arisen in his mind, the sight of the great congregation, in attitude devout and earnest, may have caused him comfort and reassurance. That which brings forth good fruit must itself be good. The mission which had transferred gross and debased idolaters into spiritual worshippers such as these, resigning every faculty to the service of the one great God; and which, wherever accepted and believed in, was daily producing the same wonderful change, that mission must be divine, and the voice from within which prompted him to undertake it must have been the voice of the Almighty, revealed through His ministering spirit. Perhaps it was a thought like this which passed at the moment through the mind of the Prophet, and lighted up his countenance with that smile of joy, diffusing gladness over the crowded courts of the mosque.
“Having paused thus for a moment at the door, Mahomet, supported as before, walked softly to the front, where Abu Bakr stood. The people made way for him, opening their ranks as he advanced. Abu Bakr heard the rustle (for he never when at prayer turned himself or looked to the right hand or the left), and, apprehending the cause which alone at that time could create so great sensation, stepped backwards to join the congregation and vacate the place of leader for the Prophet. But Mahomet motioned him to resume the post, and taking his hand, moved forward to the pulpit. There he sat on the ground by the side of Abu Bakr, who resumed the service, and finished it in customary form.
“When the prayers were ended, Abu Bakr entered into conversation with Mahomet. He rejoiced to find him to all appearance convalescent. ‘O Prophet,’ he said, ‘I perceive that, by the grace of God, thou art better to-day, even as we desire to see thee. Now this day is the turn of my wife, the daughter of Khârija; shall I go and visit her?’ Mahomet gave him permission. So he departed to her house at Al Sunh, a suburb of the upper city.
“Mahomet then sat himself down for a little while in the court-yard of the mosque, near the door of Ayesha’s apartment, and addressed the people, who, overjoyed to find him again in their midst, crowded round. He spoke with emotion, and with a voice still so powerful as to reach beyond the outer doors of the mosque. ‘By the Lord,’ he said, ‘as for myself, verily, no man can lay hold of me in any matter; I have not made lawful anything excepting what God hath made lawful; nor have I prohibited aught but that which God in His book hath prohibited.’ Osâma was there; when he came to bid farewell (before starting on an expedition against the Roman border), Mahomet said to him, ‘Go forward with the army; and the blessing of the Lord be with thee!’ Then turning to the women who sat close by, ‘O Fâtima!’ he exclaimed, ‘my daughter, and Safiâ, my aunt! Work ye both that which shall procure you acceptance with the Lord; for verily I have no power with him to save you in anywise.’ Having said this, he arose and re-entered the room of Ayesha.
“Mahomet, exhausted by the exertion he had undergone, lay down upon his bed; and Ayesha, seeing him to be very weak, raised his head from the pillow, and laid it tenderly upon her bosom. At that moment one of her relatives entered with a green tooth-pick in his hand. Ayesha observed that the eye of Mahomet rested on it, and, knowing it to be such as he liked, asked whether he wished to have it. He signified assent. Chewing it a little to make it soft and pliable, she placed it in his hand. This pleased him; for he took up the tooth-pick and used it, rubbing his teeth with his ordinary vigour; then he put it down.
“His strength now rapidly sank. He seemed to be aware that death was drawing near. He called for a pitcher of water, and, wetting his face, prayed thus: ‘O Lord, I beseech thee to assist me in the agonies of death!’ Then three times he ejaculated earnestly, ‘Gabriel, come close unto me!’
“At this time he began to blow upon himself, perhaps in the half-consciousness of delirium, repeating the while an ejaculatory form which he had been in the habit of praying over persons who were very sick. When he ceased, from weakness, Ayesha took up the task, and continued to blow upon him and recite the same prayer. Then, seeing that he was very low, she seized his right hand and rubbed it (another practice of the Prophet when visiting the sick), repeating all the while the earnest invocation. But Mahomet was too far gone to bear even this. He now wished to be in perfect quiet: ‘Take off thy hand from me,’ he said, ‘that cannot benefit me now.’ After a little he prayed in a whisper, ‘Lord grant me pardon; and join me to the companionship on high!’ Then at intervals: ‘Eternity in Paradise!’ ‘Pardon!’ ‘Yes; the blessed companionship on high!’ He stretched himself gently. Then all was still. His head grew heavy on the breast of Ayesha. The Prophet of Arabia was dead.