he had mentioned to Aisha. When he saw that doubt had arisen, he knew that the document would not dispel it and thus no longer served any purpose. He also knew that Allah would unite them upon what he had resolved, as he said:

“Allah and the believers will accept none but Abū Bakr.”

Ibn Abbās’s statement:

“The calamity—the whole calamity—was what came between the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and his writing the document” (1)

implies that this impediment was a calamity. It was a calamity for anyone who doubted (2) the caliphate of al-Siddīq or for whom the matter was unclear (3), for had there been such a document, this doubt would have vanished. As for anyone who knew that his caliphate was rightful, it was no calamity for him. All praise is due to Allah.

Whoever imagines that this document was to concern Ali’s caliphate is misguided by the consensus of [people generally] (4), of both Sunni and Shia scholars. Sunni scholars unanimously agree that Abū Bakr was superior and entitled to precedence. As for the Shia (5), who maintain that Ali was the one entitled to the imamate, they say that the Prophet had already explicitly designated him as imam in a clear, manifest, and well-known declaration. Accordingly, there would have been no need for a document.