Aḥmad said (1): ʿAffān and Bahz narrated to us; they both said: Sulaimān ibn al-Mughīrah narrated to us, Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl narrated to us, from Abū Burdah, who said: I visited ʿĀʾishah, and she brought out for us a coarse waist-wrapper made in Yemen and a cloak of the kind they call al-mulabbadah. She said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away wearing these two garments.” This report was collected by all of the major compilers (3) except al-Nasāʾī, through several chains from Ḥumayd ibn Hilāl. Al-Tirmidhī graded it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.

Imām Aḥmad also said (4): Bahz narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Salamah narrated to us; Abū ʿImrān al-Jawni informed us, from Yazīd ibn Bābanūs, who said: A friend of mine and I went to ʿĀʾishah and asked leave to enter. She tossed us a cushion and drew the curtain toward herself. My companion said, “Mother of the Believers, what is your ruling on al-ʿirāk?” She replied, “What is al-ʿirāk?” I tapped my companion on the shoulder, and she said, “Enough—you have hurt your brother!” Then she continued, “What is al-ʿirāk? It is menstruation! Say the word Allah used: ‘menstruation’ (al-Baqara 2:222).”

She added, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to drape himself over me and touch my head while I was menstruating, with a cloth between us.

“Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by my door he would speak a word through which Allah benefited me. One day he passed by and said nothing, then again passed and said nothing—two or three times. So I said, ‘Girl, put a cushion for me at the door,’ and I wrapped my head and sat there. When he passed, he said, ‘ʿĀʾishah, what is the matter with you?’ I said, ‘My head hurts.’ He replied, ‘Ah, my head!’ and went off.

“He had not been away long before he was brought back, carried in a cloak, and he entered my room. He sent word to his wives: ‘I have fallen ill and can no longer move about among you; allow me, then, to stay with ʿĀʾishah.’ I nursed him, though I had never nursed anyone before him.

“While his head was resting one day on my shoulder, it inclined toward my own head. I thought he wanted something from my hair, when a cool drop came from his mouth and settled in the hollow of my throat, and my skin shivered. I assumed he had fainted, so I covered him with a cloth.

“ʿUmar and al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah arrived and asked permission to enter; I admitted them and drew the curtain toward me. ʿUmar looked at him and said, ‘What a swoon! How severe is the swoon of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!’ Then the two rose to leave. As they approached the door, al-Mughīrah said, ‘ʿUmar, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has died.’ He answered, ‘You lie; you are a man whom a trial has confused. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ will not die until he annihilates …’