necks. The few yards from Aisha’s chamber to the
mosque itself must have seemed an infinite distance, and
the shade of the mosque an exquisite relief from the
blinding sun. When they reached it, Muhammad
gestured to be seated beside the pulpit, where he could
watch as his old friend Abu Bakr led the prayers in his
place.
Those who were there remembered the Prophet
smiling as the voice of his loyal companion sounded
through the building. They said his face was radiant,
though there is no knowing if it was the radiance of
faith or the radiance of fever and impending death.
Perhaps it was the radiance of their own faith, of their
gratitude at seeing him there. They watched as he sat
and listened to the chanting of the words he had ɹrst
heard from the angel Gabriel, and persuaded themselves
that it was not the last time. But once the prayers were
over and Ali and Abbas had carried him back to Aisha’s
chamber, Muhammad had only a few hours left.
Some were more clearsighted than others. “I swear by
God that I saw death in the Prophet’s face,” Ali’s uncle
told him after they had settled the sick man back onto
his pallet and left Aisha’s chamber. Now was the last
chance to clarify the matter of succession. “Let us go
back and ask. If authority be with us, we shall know it,
and if it be with others, we will ask him to direct them to
treat us well.”