2473 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Aḥmad ibn Sulaymān al-Ṭūsī narrated to us; he said: al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār narrated to us; he said: Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Asadī narrated to us, from Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Hāshimī, from Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Azdī, who said:

When the affair of the Camel drew to a close, ʿĀʾishah rose and spoke, saying:

“O people! My status with you is that of a mother, and I have the right to admonish. I care only about the one who disobeys his Lord.

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed away with his head between my chest and my throat. I am one of his wives in Paradise; my Lord kept me in reserve for him and set me apart from all others—indeed, the correct wording is ‘a few’. Through me He distinguished the believer among you from the hypocrite, and on my account He granted you the concession of making dry ablution on pure earth.

“My father was one of the first four Muslims and the very first to be called al-Ṣiddīq. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ died well-pleased with him, whereupon he placed around his neck the yoke of the imamate. When the rope of religion shook, he grasped its two ends and secured it for you; he stamped out hypocrisy, stopped the wellspring of apostasy, and extinguished what the Jews had contrived—while you stood wide-eyed, awaiting the dawn and listening for every outcry.

“He mended the breach, filled the gap, drew water from the deepest well, and strove to bury every ember of unrest. Then he died—by Allah, only after he had quenched the very head of hypocrisy, fanned the flames of war against the idolaters, kept constant watch in championing Islam, and was forbearing toward the ignorant.”