against my chest, and I noticed him looking at it; I knew how much he loved and was familiar with the siwāk.
So I asked, “Shall I take it for you?” He nodded with his head—that is, yes. I softened it for him and then passed it across his teeth.
She added: In front of him was a small leather vessel or box containing water. He kept dipping his hand into the water and wiping his face with it, saying, “There is no deity but Allah; truly death has agonies.”
Then he raised the forefinger of his left hand and began to say, “With the Highest Companion, with the Highest Companion,” until his soul was taken and his hand fell back into the water. Al-Bukhārī (1) recorded it from Muḥammad, from ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus.

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī (2) said: Shuʿbah narrated to us, from Saʿd ibn Ibrāhīm; I heard ʿUrwah relate from ʿĀʾishah who said: We used to recount that the Prophet ﷺ would not die until he had been given the choice between this world and the Hereafter. When the illness in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away set in, he became hoarse, and I heard him recite:
“With those whom Allah has blessed—of the prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous; what excellent companions they are” (al-Nisāʾ 4:69).
ʿĀʾishah said: We then realized that he was being given the choice. The two Imams (3) recorded it from Shuʿbah with this chain.

Al-Zuhrī said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab and ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, along with other scholars, informed me that ʿĀʾishah said: While he was in good health the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say, “No prophet is taken until he is shown his seat in Paradise and then given the choice.”
ʿĀʾishah continued: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was overtaken by death and his head was on my thigh, he lost consciousness for a while, then revived and fixed his gaze on the ceiling of the house. He said, “O Allah, [I choose] the Highest Companion.” I knew then that it was the report he had conveyed to us—and it is authentic—that no prophet is taken unless he is shown his seat in Paradise and then given the choice. ʿĀʾishah said: I remarked, “So you will not choose us.” ʿĀʾishah said (4): Those were the last words the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke: “The Highest Companion.” The two Imams (5) transmitted it through several routes from al-Zuhrī.

Sufyān—that is, al-Thawrī—narrated from Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, from Abū Burdah, from ʿĀʾishah, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ fainted while in my lap, and I began wiping his face and praying for his recovery. He said, “No; rather I ask Allah for the Highest Companion—the One most blessed—together with Gabriel, Michael, and Isrāfīl.” Al-Nasāʾī (6) reported it from Sufyān al-Thawrī.

Al-Bayhaqī (7) said: Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Ḥāfiẓ and others informed us; they said: Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam narrated to us; Anas ibn ʿIyāḍ narrated to us, from Hishām ibn ʿUrwah, from ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, that ʿĀʾishah informed him