—she is but one of them; no sooner is she in tears than she breaks into laughter.

After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away, I asked her about what had happened, and she replied, “He confided to me that he was about to die, so I wept… Then he confided to me that I would be the first of his household to follow him, so I laughed.”

Fatimah did not remain long after her father’s death. She joined him only a few months later—some reports say six, others three, and still others two. Thus, in Ramadan of the year 11 AH, Fatimah al-Zahra answered her Lord’s call and rejoiced at reuniting with her father.

When her own death approached, she undertook her ritual washing (ghusl) herself. After performing the finest washing she had ever done, she said to her companion Asmaʾ bint ʿUmays, “Dear mother, bring me my new clothes.” She put them on and then said: