—if you are exempt from all reckoning—why do you not bring the soul back, if what you claim is true? (Q 56:86–87)

Who could possibly do so? Can anyone return his spirit once it has reached the throat? Never—absolutely never. When a human being loses all hope for his life and actually beholds death, what should he say? ʿĀʾishah (may Allah be pleased with her) relates that the Prophet ﷺ would say, “O Allah, forgive me, have mercy upon me, and join me to the Highest Company.” This was the supplication of the Messenger ﷺ at the moment of his death—even though Allah had already forgiven him all his past and future sins!

Who are “the Highest Company”? They are the prophets, the steadfast affirmers of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous—what excellent companions they are.

Such were the Prophet’s words as he lay dying. Beside him stood a vessel of water, and he suffered from the severity and stupor of death as no one else had, for he ﷺ was made to experience an illness equal to that of two men; his sickness and his death throes were intensified. Why? So that he might attain the loftiest stations of patience, for patience can only be realized through something that must be endured. It is as though Allah chose for His Prophet ﷺ that his illness and the pangs of his passing be intense, so that he would reach the highest ranks among the patient.

Thus he ﷺ would dip his hand into the vessel of water, wipe his face with it, and say