Debtim 209intensity of me pain. The Prophet had recommended that grief should bc
expressed but without excess, without hysteria, wim restraint and dignity.
Heavy silence, crossed with si ghs and sobs, reigned ncar the Pro phet's
home. Umar ibn al-Khattab suddenly broke that silence and exclaimed
forcefully, as we have seen, that the Pr.ophet was not dead, that he would
come back, as j{oses had done, after forty days. He even threatened to kill
whoever dared declare that tbe Prophet was dead. His love was such, and
me feeling of emptiness was so intense, that Umar could no t imagine the
future without the man who had gujded and accompanied them, and
whose love and attention had been stressed by the Q uean itself: "Now a
Messenger has come to you from among yourselves: it g ric\'cs him mat
you should suffer, he is ardently anxious over you: to the believers he is
most kind and merciful.,,31 Emotion had taken hold of his being.
At this point, Abu Bakr ar rived at the Prophet's home, sat at his bed-
side, and lifted the blanket that had been laid over the Prophet's body and
face. Tears were streaming down his face as he realized that the Prophet
had left them. H e went out and tried to silence Umar, who, still in a state
of emotional shock, refused to calm himself. Abu Bakr then stood aside
and addressed the crowd, and this was when he uttered those words, so
full of wisdom, that we mentioned in the introduction, thai synthesized
the very essence of Islam's creed: ,cLet those who worshiped Muhammad
know that Muhammad is now dead! As for those who wot shiped God, let
them knmv that God is alive and does not die.,,32 Then he recited this
verse: " Muhammad is no more than a m essenger; many were the messen-
gers who passed away before him. If he died or was killed, will you then
turn back? I f any did turn back, not the least harm will he do to God. But
God will reward the thankful."33 When Umar heard that \·erse. he col-
lapsed, and he was later to co nfess that it was as if he had heard the verse
for the first rime, even thoug h it had been revealed a long time before. He
realized, along with all the Muslims, that the Prophet was gone for good,
that he had left them, and that the emptiness that had suddenly set in must
henceforth be filled by their faith in the One, \Vbo "is alive and does not
die"; they must ask HUn to help them find in themselves the strenbrth,
patience, and perseverance they needed to go on li\'ing without the
Messenger, but always in the light o f his example.
Umae, despite his strong character and imprcssi\'e personality, had lost
control of himself for a short while. hi s emotions seizing him so strongly