And Ibn Mājah (1) likewise recorded it through al-Layth.

Al-Tirmidhī pronounced the report “gharīb.” (2)

Imām Aḥmad (3) said: Wakiʿ narrated to us, from Ismāʿīl, from Muṣʿab ibn Isḥāq ibn Ṭalḥah, from ʿĀʾishah, from the Prophet ﷺ, who said (4): “Indeed it consoles me that I have seen the whiteness of ʿĀʾishah’s hand in Paradise.” Aḥmad alone transmitted this tradition, and its chain is acceptable. It is clear proof of the Prophet’s ﷺ intense love for ʿĀʾishah—may Allah be pleased with her. Many people have spoken at length about ardent love, yet none of their statements attains this degree, for they indulge in exaggerated words devoid of substance, whereas this is speech that is certainly and undeniably true.

Hammād ibn Zayd (5) narrated, from Ayyūb, from Ibn Abī Mulaykah, who said: ʿĀʾishah related: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ died in my house, and he died between my chest and my throat. Whenever he fell ill, Gabriel would protect him with a supplication. I went to recite it (6), but he lifted his gaze toward the heaven and said, ‘With the Highest Companion, with the Highest Companion.’ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr then entered carrying a fresh palm twig; he looked at it, and I realized that he desired it.

“So I took it, chewed it to soften it (7), and handed it to him. He cleaned his teeth with it more beautifully than I had ever seen anyone do. Then he reached out to return it (8), but it slipped from his hand.

“Thus Allah joined my saliva with his on the last day of this world and the first day of the Hereafter.” Al-Bukhārī (9) likewise reported it, through Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb (10) from Hammād ibn Zayd.

Al-Bayhaqī (11) said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; Abū Naṣr Aḥmad ibn Sahl, the jurist of Bukhārā, narrated to me; Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad, the ḥāfiẓ of Baghdad, narrated to us; Dāwūd ibn ʿAmr ibn Zuhayr al-Ḍabbī narrated to us; ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, from ʿUmar ibn Saʿīd ibn Abī Ḥusayn—who said: Ibn Abī Mulaykah informed us that Abū ʿAmr Dhakwān, the freedman of ʿĀʾishah, informed him that ʿĀʾishah used to say: “Among the favors Allah bestowed upon me is that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died on my day, in my house, and between my chest and my throat, and that Allah joined my saliva with his at the time of death.” She said: “My brother entered with a siwāk in his hand while I was supporting the Messenger of Allah ﷺ …”