IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATH~R 209
'Every man might arise among his family, yet his
death be closer than his sandal thongs.'
"When the fever was raised from Bilal he would raise his voice and say,
'0 how happy I would be to spend a night in a valley
covered with fresh grass and verdure,
Will I ever again descend to Majinna's waters, or see
Shma and Tufayl?'"
'A'isha went on, "So I went to the Messenger of God (SAAS) and told him and
he said, '0 God, make Medina beloved by us as Mecca is, and more so; make it
healthy and bless us in its foods. Turn aside its fever and send it off to
al-J~hfa!"'~
Muslim related this from Abii Bakr b. Ahii Shayba from Hisham in abbrevi-
ated form.
In al-Bukhari's account of it from Abn UsZma, from Hishim b. Wrwa, from
his father, from CA'isha, there is an addition after the verses of BilZl. In this he
says, "0 God, curse Wtba b. Rabica, Shayba b. Rabi'a and Umayya b. Khalaf
alike for them having forced us out into the land of pestilence!"
"And so the Messenger of God (SAAS) said, '0 God, make Medina beloved
by us, as Mecca is, and more so; make it healthy and bless us in its prosperity.
Turn aside its fever and send it off to al-Juhfa!'
"She said, 'When we arrived in Medina, we found it the most pestilential
place on God's earth. It was just two basinshaped valleys wet with najl, that is
brackish water."'
ZiyZd quoted Muhammad b. Ishaq as follows, "Hishim b. Wrwa and Wmar
b. 'Abd Alhh b. Wrwa b. al-Zubayr related to me that 'A'isha stated, 'When the
Messenger of God (SAAS) arrived in Medina, it was the most pestilential place
on God's earth. His Companions fell sick from fever and illness, but God kept
that away from His Prophet. Abn Bakr, 'Amir h. Fuhayra and Bild, the two
freed-men of Abn Bakr, were in one house, struck down by fever. I went in to
them to visit them, that being before the the veil, was prescribed for us.
Only God knows how very sick they were. I approached Abn Bakr and said,
"How are you, father?" He replied, in verse:
"Every man might arise among his family, yet his
death be closer than his sandal thongs!"
"'I exclaimed, "I swear, my father doesn't know what he is saying!" Then I went
over to 'Amir b. Fuhayra and asked, "How are you, 'Amir?" He replied, in verse,
"I have found death before tasting it; a coward has
his demise right above hi.
Every man fights hard with all his power, as a bull
protects its skin with its horns."
- According to a foomote in the printed edition of Ibn Kathir's text, the reference is to a town
where largely Jews resided at the time, some 82 miles from Mecca.
