Muhammad: Seal of the Prophets — Page 430
MUHAMMAD : SEAL OF THE PROPHETS 430 He interpreted this as meaning that the task assigned to him by his Lord had been fulfilled and that his end, which had been intimated to him in the revelation vouchsafed to him on the conclusion of his address on the Mount of Mercy on the day of the pilgr image, was now approaching. When he announced this revelation he observed, ‘A servant of the Lord was granted the choice to stay on a little longer upon the earth or to return to Him forthwith, and he preferred the latter. ’ On hearing this, Abu Bakr, who w as of the company, was overcome by emotion and exclaimed, ‘Fain would we ransom thee with the sacrifice of our fathers, our mothers and ourselves,’ upon which the Holy Prophet said, ‘Were it permissible to take a human being as a devoted friend, I would ha ve chosen Abu Bakr; but such love is permissible only for Allah. ’ Umar has related that when Abu Bakr exhibited deep emotion on hearing the latest revelation of the Holy Prophet and expressed his devotion to him in the words that have just been cited, he f elt that Abu Bakr had been deeply affected without cause as the Holy Prophet had only cited the case of a devoted servant of God, who, on being granted the choice between a little longer life on earth and immediate return to his Lord, preferred the latter. ‘But Abu Bakr,’ he said, ‘was blessed with greater spiritual penetration than we were, because he perceived that the Holy Prophet had mentioned his own case and not that of some other devoted servant of God. ’ For a day or two the Holy Prophet continued to lead the Prayer services and to visit the apartments of his wives in rotation. One night he arose softly, and, followed only by a servant, walked to the burial ground in the outskirts of the city. There he res ted