2472 – Muhammad ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Ahmad ibn Sulaymān al-Ṭūsī narrated to us; he said: al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār narrated to us; he said: A man told me, from ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mūsā ibn ʻAbd Allāh, who said: Muḥammad ibn al-Qāsim, the client of Hāshim, related to me:

News reached ʻĀʾishah that a number of people were maligning Abū Bakr. She therefore sent for a group of them. When they arrived, she let down her curtain, then drew nearer, praised and extolled Allah, invoked blessings upon her Prophet ﷺ, reproved and chastised them, and said:

“My father—and what a father he is! By Allah, ⦗1382⦘ no hands will ever attain to him. He is a lofty mountain and an outstretched branch. Far indeed! Fancy has lied. He succeeded while you called it a lie; he outstripped you when you lagged behind, the way a race-horse surges once it seizes the lead. He was the pride of Quraysh in his youth and its refuge in maturity: he released its captives, sustained its destitute, and mended its fractures until their hearts embraced him.

“Then he pressed on in his religion; his resolve for the sake of Allah never slackened until he built a mosque in his own courtyard, reviving therein what the falsifiers had allowed to die. May Allah’s mercy be upon him: abundant in tears, restrained in limbs, his sobs choked with emotion. The women and children of Mecca used to flock to him, mocking and ridiculing him—‘Allah mocks them and lets them continue in their rebellion, wandering blindly’ (Qurʾān 2:15).

“The notables of Quraysh deemed that a grave matter: they bent their bows against him, fitted their arrows, and set him up as a target—yet they never dulled a sword of his, nor splintered his spear. He held firmly to his course until the religion dug in its heels, cast down its burden, fixed its stakes, and people entered it in crowds, from every faction in diverse companies.

“Allah then chose for His Prophet what is with Him. When Allah took His Prophet ﷺ, Satan pitched his pavilion, stretched its ropes, set up his snares, and advanced with his cavalry and infantry. Some men imagined their ambitions had been realised—but it was not the time they hoped for. How could it be while the Truthful One (al-Ṣiddīq) was still among them? He rose bare-headed and with sleeves rolled up, gathered his companions, restored the glad tidings of Islam after its estrangement, collected its scattered strands, and straightened its crookedness by his rectitude. Hypocrisy was trampled beneath his feet, and he raised the religion and revived it. When the truth had returned to its people, heads sat firm upon their shoulders, and blood was spared, death came to him.

“He filled the gap with one who matched him in mercy and equalled him in conduct and justice—that was the son of al-Khaṭṭāb. Blessed is the mother who bore him and nursed him; she was singularly honoured through him. He opened the strongholds of the unbelievers and overthrew them; he scattered idolatry to the winds; he split the earth and subdued it until it disgorged its produce and cast out its filth. It courted him, but he turned from it; it persisted, and he rejected it. Then he distributed its booty and bade it farewell just as he had accompanied it.

“So show me—what exactly do they inherit? And which of my father’s two days do you resent: the day he remained among you and dealt justly with you, or the day he departed ⦗1383⦘ having already secured your welfare? I seek forgiveness for myself and for you.”