Chief of the Prophets — Page 154
Chapter Seven 154 ‘Ᾱ’ishah ra says: As we approached near the city of Madīnah, one night, Muḥammad sa ordered a departure. When I heard this announcement, I left to one side, away from the army, in order to attend to the call of nature, and returned after I had finished. When I returned to my camel, I noticed that my necklace was missing. I went back in search of it and was delayed a short while. In the meantime, those who had been appointed to lift my litter (hooded camel-saddle, sometimes called litter) and place it on the back of the camel arrived, and assuming that I was inside it lifted it and placed it on the camel, and marched on with the army. In any case, when I returned after finding my necklace, lo and behold, the army had left, and the plane was empty. I became extremely worried, but I thought to myself that I should remain at my place, because when people would realize that I had been left behind, they would surely return. Therefore, I sat on that spot and was soon overcome by sleep. Now, it so happened that there was a Companion, whose duty was to stay behind the army (so that fallen items, etc. , could be retrieved). When he arrived from behind the army and reached my resting place just before dawn, he found me sleeping there alone. Since he had already seen me prior to the revelation of injunctions relevant to modesty (purdah) , he recognized me immediately, upon which he became flustered and said: Surely, to Allah we belong and to Him shall we return. I was awakened by his voice, and upon seeing him, immediately veiled my face with my head cover. By God, he did not say a word to me, nor did I hear any words from him