210 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD"'I exclaimed, "By God, he doesn't know what he is saying!" Bila was in the
habit of resting in the courtyard of the house whenever the fever struck him,
then he would raise his voice and say,
"0 how happy I would be to spend a night in Fakh, while
all around me was fresh grass and verdure.
Will I ever again descend to Majima's waters, or see
Shw and Tufayl?"'
"'A'isha went on, 'I told the Messenger of God (SAAS) what I had heard from
them, saying, "They are raving, irrational from the intensity of the fever." He
replied, "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 to Mahya'a!" Mahya'a
is a reference to al-Juhfa."'
Im%m Ahad stated, "Yiinus related to us, quoting Layth, from Yazid b. Abti
Habib, from Abii Bakr b. Ishzq b. Yasar, from 'Abd All& b.Wrwa, from 'Unva,
from 'A'isha, who said, 'When the Messenger of God (SAAS) arrived in
Medina, Abii Bakr and 'Amir b. Fuhayra, Abii Bakr's freed-man, and Bilal, fell
sick.' 'A'isha asked permission from the Messenger of God (SAAS) to visit them,
and he agreed. She then asked Abii Bakr, 'How are you?'
"He replied,
'Any man might arise among his family, yet his death be closer than his sandal
thongs!'
"She then asked 'Amir and he replied,
'I have found death before tasting it; a coward has his demise right above him.'
"Then she asked Bilal and he said,
'0 how happy I would be to spend a night in Fakh, while all around me was fresh
grass and verdure.'
"So she went to the Messenger of God (SAAS) and told him. He then looked
up to heaven and said, '0 God, make Medina beloved by us as Mecca is, and
more so; make it healthy and bless us in its foods. Tum aside its fever to
Mahya'a.' This is a reference to al-Juhfa, so they claim."
Al-Nasa'i related this similarly from Qutayba, from al-Layth. The Imim
Ahmad related it through 'Abd al-Ra!nnZn b. al-HBith from her as above.
Al-Bayhaqi stated, "The ha&. Abii (Abd Allzh related to us, quoting Abii
Sa'id b. Abii 'Amr, both saying, 'Abii al-'Abbas al-Asamm related to us, quoting
Ahmad b. 'Abd al-Jabbar and Yiinus b. Bukayr, from Hishim b. 'Urwa, from his
father, from 'A'isha, who said, "The Messenger of God (SAAS) came to Medina
and it was the most pestilential place on God's earth. It was just two basin-
shaped valleys wet with najl, brackish water.""'
Hishw stated, "Its pestilential nature was well known before Islam. When
the valley was disease-ridden and a man were to arrive there, he would be told to
neigh like a donkey; if he did this the valley's pestilence would not harm him. A