206 In {ht FoollllPI 0/ fix Pruplxr
other person, taking with rum no unforgivcn o ffense, no unhealed wound,
no undischarged truSt, 110 unheard message.
The Prophet sat o n the Hlinbar again and confessed : "God, the f..Iosl
N o ble, has o ffered one of His se rvants the chance to choose between th e
possessions o f this world and thai which is near Him, and h e has chosen
that which is near G od."24 At those words, Abu Bakr bur~l LillO tcars, for
he had been the first to understand, from the depths of his love for th e
Prophet, that Muhammad was speaking of himself and o f his own
impend ing d eparture. The l\lessengcr sOOlhed h im and, while continuing
to address the congregation, di rectly and personally addressed Abu Bakr's
hean, mus publiclr settling a private love debt that was both deep and
intense: "The Companio n who has been the most generous to me with
his company and his wealth is Abu Bakr. If 1 were to have an intimate
friend beside G o d, he would be Abu Bakr; but Islamic brotherhood and
affectio n are preferable."25 Their communicatio n was public, bm ir was in
fact singular, personal, secret. Abu Hala's tears expressed his love and
cleared the d eb t; he loved, and at ,hat p articular moment, h e understood.
Departing
The Prophet went back to Aishah's and lay down again. He intimated to
th e Companions who visited him later on that he wanted to have h is last
recommcndatiulls written down. Umar expressed reservations bec:l.us(' o f
th e P rophet's condition, while others backed the idea. They raised their
voices in the Prophet's presence, and he asked them to withdraw, fo r he
could no t bear to hear them argue. In an y case, the project was not car-
ried out, though the Messenger g ave a few more verbal re commendations
about faith, practice, and maintaining the Kaba. Then he wanted to go to
the mosque, bur the pain was so intense that when he tried to get up h e
fainted. When h e came to, he asked if the faithful had p rayed , and Aishah
informed h im that they were waiting fo r him. H e again tried to get up, but
he fainted o nce more. \'<'hen he recovered consciousness fo r th e second
time, he asked the same question and was informed that the :Muslims were
still waiting for him. H e told Aishah to see to it that the people prayed ,
and that Abu Bakr was to lead the prayer.