to wipe them out (1), and He granted me this. I asked Him not to destroy them through a widespread famine, and He granted me this. I asked Him not to let them fight one another, but He withheld this from me.” (2)

For this reason, Ibn ‘Abbās said: “The calamity—the greatest calamity—was what prevented the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from writing the document.” This was a calamity for anyone who doubted al-Siddīq’s caliphate and challenged it. Had the Prophet completed the document he intended to write, this doubter’s misgivings would have been dispelled, and he would have said: “His caliphate was established (3) by a clear, explicit statement.” Since no such document was produced, this was a calamity for him, without any failure on the part of Allah or His Messenger. Rather, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, conveyed the message clearly and set out the many proofs showing that al-Siddīq had a greater right to the caliphate than anyone else and that he was to take precedence.

This was not a calamity for the pious who follow the guidance of the Quran. It was a calamity only for those whose hearts were diseased, just as Allah’s abrogation of what He abrogated, the revelation of the Quran, the Muslims’ defeat at Uhud, and other worldly afflictions were calamities for those whose hearts were diseased.

Allah Most High says:

“As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which is ambiguous in it, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation.” [Surah Āl ‘Imrān: 7]

Yet, for those whom Allah has guided, these matters are means by which He increases them in knowledge and faith.