they both remained ill until, at the completion of the year, they died on the same day.

ʿĀʾishah narrated: “The first thing that brought on Abū Bakr’s illness was that he bathed on a cold day. He developed a fever and for 15 days did not go out to the Prayer, instead instructing ʿUmar to lead it. The Companions would visit him, and ʿUthmān stayed with him more than any of them during his sickness. He passed away on the Monday night preceding Tuesday, with eight nights left of Jumādā al-Ākhirah. His caliphate lasted two years and 100 days.”

Abū Maʿshar said: “Two years and four months, except for four nights; he died at 63.”

Al-Wāqidī reported: “I was informed by Ibn Abī Sabrah, from ʿAbd al-Majīd ibn Suhayl, from Abū Salamah; and Bardān ibn Abī al-Naḍr informed us, from Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Taymī; and ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Allāh informed us, from Abū al-Naḍr, from ʿAbd Allāh al-Nakhaʿī—their accounts overlap—that when Abū Bakr’s condition became grave he summoned ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf and said, ‘Tell me about ʿUmar.’ He replied, ‘You never ask me about anything except that you know more about it than I.’ Abū Bakr said, ‘Even so?’ He answered, ‘By Allah, he is better than the opinion you hold of him.’

“He then called for ʿUthmān and asked him about ʿUmar. ʿUthmān said, ‘What I know of him is that his inner state is better than his outward one, and there is no one among us like him.’ Abū Bakr replied, ‘May Allah have mercy on you. By Allah, had I left the matter undecided I would not have gone beyond you.’ He also consulted Saʿīd ibn Zayd, Usayd ibn al-Ḥuḍayr, and others.

“Someone said, ‘What will you say to your Lord if He asks you about appointing ʿUmar when you can see how stern he is?’ He answered, ‘Sit me up! Are you trying to frighten me with Allah? I will say, “I appointed over them the best of Your servants.”’

“He then called for ʿUthmān and said, ‘Write: In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. This is what Abū Bakr ibn Abī Quḥāfah covenants at the end of his term in this world, as he departs from it, and at the beginning…"