until Allah annihilates the hypocrites.
She said: Then Abū Bakr came; I lifted the curtain and he looked at him. He said, “To Allah we belong and to Him we return; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has passed away.” He approached the Prophet’s head, bent down, kissed his forehead and said, “Ah, my Prophet!” He raised his head, bent down again, kissed his forehead and said, “Ah, my intimate companion!” He raised his head once more, bent down, kissed his forehead and said, “Ah, my beloved friend! The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has passed away.”
He then went out to the mosque, where ʿUmar was addressing the people, saying, “The Messenger of Allah will not die until Allah destroys the hypocrites.” Abū Bakr spoke, praising and extolling Allah, and said, “Allah says: ‘Indeed, you are to die, and indeed they are to die’ (al-Zumar 39:30),” and he completed the verse. Then he recited: “‘Muhammad is but a messenger; messengers have passed on before him. If he dies or is killed, will you turn back on your heels? Whoever turns back on his heels…’ (Āl ʿImrān 3:144),” and he finished the verse. He then said, “Whoever used to worship Allah—Allah is Ever-Living (1); and whoever used to worship Muhammad, Muhammad has indeed died.”
ʿUmar exclaimed, “Is that really in the Book of Allah? I had no idea that it was in the Book of Allah.” He then said, “People, this is Abū Bakr, the elder (2) of the Muslims; pledge allegiance to him.” So they pledged allegiance to him.
This report was also transmitted by Abū Dāwūd (3) and al-Tirmidhī (4) in al-Shamāʾil (5) through the isnād of Marḥūm ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-ʿAṭṭār, from Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, with part of its wording.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (6) said: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ informed us; Abū Bakr ibn Isḥāq informed us; Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Milḥān narrated to us; Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us, from ʿUqayl, from Ibn Shihāb, who said: Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (7) told me that ʿĀʾishah informed him: Abū Bakr came riding his horse from his home in al-Sunḥ (8). He dismounted and entered the mosque, and spoke to no one until he went in to ʿĀʾishah. He headed straight for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—who was shrouded (9) in a striped Yemeni cloak—uncovered his face, leaned over him and kissed him, then wept. He said, “May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah! By Allah, Allah will never combine two deaths for you. As for the death that was decreed for you, you have already tasted it.”