[Commentary]

The author (may Allah have mercy on him) relates from Anas ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) that when Fāṭimah, the daughter of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—saw the Messenger of Allah grow heavy with the illness in which he died, “he was overtaken by anguish.” In other words, the severity of what befell him caused him to lapse into unconsciousness, for the fever and sickness pressed hard upon him; it was as though he suffered the pain of two men among ordinary people.

The wisdom in this lies in his attaining the loftiest degrees of patience. Patience is an elevated station that can only be reached through trial and testing from Allah, Exalted is He, for patience can exist only in the face of something disliked.

If a person is never afflicted with what he dislikes, how can his patience be known? Hence Allah the Exalted said, “And We will surely test you until We make evident those among you who strive and those who are patient” (Qur’an, 47:31). Thus the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—was afflicted with fever equal to that endured by two men.

As the agony overtook him, Fāṭimah (may Allah be pleased with her) would say, “Oh, the anguish of my father!”—grieving over the hardship he suffered, for she was a woman, and a woman’s nature finds it hard to endure with patience.

The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—replied, “No anguish will befall your father after today,” for when he departed this world he moved on to the Highest Companion. Even as death drew near he kept repeating, “O Allah, to the Highest Companion, O Allah, to the Highest Companion,” and he would look