to enter upon the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—while some women from Quraysh were with him, speaking to him and making numerous requests, their voices raised. When Umar sought permission to enter, they rose and hastened(1) behind the curtain. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—admitted him while laughing.
Umar said:
“May Allah keep you smiling, O Messenger of Allah!”
The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—said:
“I was amazed(2) at these women who were with me: as soon as they heard your voice, they hastened behind the curtain.”
Umar said:
“I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah(3), it is you whom they ought to fear more.’”
Then Umar said:
“O enemies of your own selves! Do you fear me but not fear the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him?”
[They replied, “Yes, for you are harsher and sterner than the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.”](4)
The Messenger of Allah said:
“By Him in whose hand is my soul, Satan never encounters you traveling along a mountain pass without taking a pass other than yours.”(5)
In another hadith: “Satan flees at the sound of Umar’s approach.”(6)
(1) MS N reads *yabtadirna* (“they hasten”), while MS M reads *ibtadarna* (“they hastened”).
(2) MSS H and R read *ajiba* (“he was amazed”).
(3) The words “I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah’” are omitted from MSS H, R, and Y.
(4) The passage in square brackets is omitted from MSS N and M.
(5) A shortened version of this hadith appeared earlier in this volume, p. 55. The hadith also appears in *Fadā’il al-Sahāba*, 1/244–245, nos. 301–302, and 1/256–257, no. 326.
(6) I could not find a hadith with this wording. However, al-Tirmidhī included in his *Sunan*, 5/284–285, Book of Virtues, chapter “The Virtues of Umar,” a hadith from Aisha beginning: “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—was seated when we heard a commotion and the voices of children. The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—rose and saw an Abyssinian woman dancing, with the children gathered around her. He said, ‘O Aisha, come and look.’” The hadith goes on and includes the words: “The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—said, ‘I can indeed see the devils from among the jinn and humankind fleeing from Umar.’” Al-Tirmidhī said: “This hadith is *hasan sahīh gharīb* (good, sound, and singular) through this route.” See also the preceding hadith, 5/283–284.