Chapter: The Prophet’s Passing ﷺ

Ayyūb narrated from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ died in my house, on my allotted day, while his head rested between my chest and my throat. Jibrīl used to recite a protective supplication over him whenever he fell ill; I rose to recite it, but he lifted his eyes toward the sky and kept saying, ‘With the Highest Companion, with the Highest Companion.’

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr then entered holding a fresh palm twig. The Prophet ﷺ glanced at it, so I sensed that he wished for it. I took the twig, bit it to soften it, and handed it to him. He used it to clean his teeth more thoroughly than I had ever seen him do. He then tried to return it to me, but it slipped from his hand. Thus Allah joined my saliva with his on the last day of his life in this world.” Al-Bukhārī narrated the report in this wording.

Ibn Abī Mulaykah, however, did not hear it directly from ʿĀʾishah. ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related from ʿUmar ibn Saʿīd ibn Abī Ḥusayn, who said: Ibn Abī Mulaykah told me that Dhakwān, ʿĀʾishah’s freedman, informed him that ʿĀʾishah used to say: “Among the favors Allah bestowed upon me is that the Prophet ﷺ died in my house, on my day, and against my chest and throat, and that Allah caused our saliva to mingle at the moment of death. My brother entered with a siwak while I was supporting the Messenger of Allah ﷺ against my chest. I noticed him looking at it, and I knew how fond he was of the siwak, so I asked, ‘Shall I take it for you?’ He nodded yes. I chewed it to soften it for him, and he passed it over his teeth. In front of him was a small water container—either a bowl or a flask—from which he would dip his hand and wipe his face, saying, ‘There is no deity but Allah; truly death has its agonies.’ Then he raised his left index finger and kept saying, ‘With the Highest Companion, with the Highest…’”