the Prophet’s foot—peace and blessings be upon him—but no one present could be certain of that, until ʿUrwah said to them, “By Allah, it is not the Prophet’s foot; it is only ʿUmar’s foot.”

Hishām narrates, from his father, from ʿĀʾishah, that she instructed ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr: “Do not bury me with them; rather, bury me with my female companions in al-Baqīʿ. I will never seek distinction through that.”

I say: When al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik assumed the caliphate in the year 86 AH, he began constructing the Great Mosque of Damascus and wrote to his deputy in Madinah—his cousin ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz—ordering him to enlarge (1) the Prophet’s Mosque. ʿUmar expanded it on the eastern side until the Prophet’s blessed chamber was brought within its precincts.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir transmits, with his chain, from Zādhān, the client of al-Furāfiṣah—who rebuilt the Prophet’s Mosque during the governorship (2) of ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz over Madinah—that he related from Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh something similar to what al-Bukhārī recorded, and he described the graves just as Abū Dāwūd reported.

Mention (3) of the calamity that befell the Muslims at his passing—peace and blessings be upon him

Al-Bukhārī (4) says: Sulaymān ibn Ḥarb narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us; Thābit narrated, from Anas who said:

“When the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—became gravely ill, anguish began to overtake him. Fāṭimah exclaimed, ‘Oh, the anguish of my father!’ (5) He replied, ‘There will be no anguish for your father after today.’ When he passed away she lamented, ‘O my father (6), he has answered a Lord who called him; O my father, the Garden of Firdaws is his abode; O my father, to Gabriel we announce his death.’ And when he was buried Fāṭimah said, ‘O Anas, could your hearts bear to heap earth over the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him?’ Al-Bukhārī alone reports this.”

Imām Aḥmad (7) relates: Yazīd narrated to us; Ḥammād ibn Zayd narrated to us; Thābit al-Bunānī narrated, from Anas:

“When we had buried (8) the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—Fāṭimah said, ‘O Anas, did your hearts consent to bury the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—in the soil and then return?’”

Ibn Mājah (9) also transmits it in abridged form through Ḥammād ibn Zayd. He records: Ḥammād said, “Whenever Thābit related this ḥadīth…”