So when I reached Madinah I asked ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar about it, and he replied, “They have lied; by Allah, I never narrated this to them! I myself saw ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: a vessel of water would be brought to him, he would hand it to Muʿayqīb—on whom that illness had advanced rapidly—Muʿayqīb would drink from it, then pass it back to ʿUmar. ʿUmar would place his mouth on the very spot where Muʿayqīb’s mouth had been and drink, and I realised that he was doing so to repudiate the notion of infection (1).

ʿUmar also sought medical treatment from everyone reputed to have skill in medicine. Two men from Yemen once arrived and he asked them, “Do you have a remedy for this righteous man?” They answered, “As for something that will remove the disease entirely, we are unable; but we can treat him with a medicine that will arrest it so that it will not progress.” ʿUmar said, “That would be a tremendous blessing.” They then asked, “Does your land grow ḥanẓal (colocynth)?” He said, “Yes.” They said, “Then gather some for us.” He ordered that it be collected, and enough to fill two large baskets was brought.

They split each colocynth in half, laid Muʿayqīb down, and each man took hold of one of his legs. They began rubbing the soles of his feet with the colocynth; when one was worn away they took another, and they continued until they saw Muʿayqīb expectorating a green, bitter substance, whereupon they let him up. Then they said to ʿUmar, “His pain will never increase after this.” By Allah, Muʿayqīb remained stable—his pain never worsened—until he died (2).

Ṣāliḥ ibn Kaysān said: Abū Zinād related to me that Khārijah ibn Zayd told him ʿUmar invited them to eat lunch with him. They felt uneasy, and among them was Muʿayqīb, who was afflicted with leprosy, yet Muʿayqīb ate