it would then be an exception granted to her alone, or else it was a directive to grieve with special intensity during those three days, as mentioned earlier. Allah knows best.

I say:

Asmaʾ bint ʿUmays mourned her husband in a poem, saying:

“I have sworn my soul shall never cease to sorrow for you,
nor shall the dust ever cease to cling to my skin.
Blessed are the eyes that saw a youth like him:
foremost in the charge, staunchest in defense, and most steadfast in adversity.”

Hardly had her waiting period elapsed before Abu Bakr al-Ṣiddīq sought her hand and married her. He held a wedding banquet, and among the guests was ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib. When the people departed, ʿAlī asked Abu Bakr for permission to speak with Asmaʾ from behind a curtain, and he granted it. As ʿAlī drew near, the scent of her perfume reached him, and in a playful tone he said:

“Who was it that recited in her poetry:
‘I have sworn my soul shall never cease to sorrow for you,
nor shall the dust ever cease to cling to my skin’?”

She replied, “Leave it, O Abū ʾl-Hasan—you are a man with a sense of humor.”

Asmaʾ bore al-Ṣiddīq a son, Muḥammad ibn Abī Bakr, delivering him at al-Shajarah between Mecca and Madinah while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on his way to the Farewell Pilgrimage. He instructed her to bathe and enter into iḥrām, as will be detailed in its proper place. When al-Ṣiddīq passed away, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib married her, and she bore him children. May Allah be pleased with her and with them all.

Section

Ibn Isḥāq said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn al-Zubayr related to me from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, who said:

When the army drew near to Madinah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims went out to meet them. The children came running, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ approached on a mount with the people. He said,

“Carry the children, and bring me the son of Jaʿfar.”

ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar was brought to him, and he placed him in front of him on the animal. The people began throwing dust toward the soldiers, saying, “You deserters! You fled in the path of Allah?” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, “They are not deserters; rather, they are the chargers who will return, if Allah wills.” This report is mursal.

Imām Aḥmad also said: Abū Muʿāwiyah told us; ʿĀṣim told us; from Murrīq al-ʿIjlī; from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar, who said: Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from a journey, the children of his household would go out to greet him, and on one such occasion I reached him first.