Chief of the Prophets — Page 230
Chapter Ten 230 (Āl ‘Imrān 3:145) And Muḥammad is only a Messenger. Verily all Messengers have passed away before him. If then he die or be slain, will you turn back on your heels? And he who turns back on his heels shall not harm Allah at all. And Allah will certainly reward the grateful. ‘Abdullāh bin ‘Abbās later narrated, “When Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq ra recited this verse, by God, it seemed as if Allah the Exalted had just revealed this verse to him (Abū Bakr ra ), and other people heard it for the first time. At that time I did not see anyone who did not have this verse on his tongue. ” Sa‘īd narrated that ‘Umar ra said, “When Abū Bakr ra recited this verse, only then did I believe that Muḥammad sa had actually passed away. Hearing this, I lost all strength in my body, my eyes blanked out, and I became unconscious. ” All the Companions were stricken with the utmost grief, and everyone had his own way of expression. ‘Ᾱ’ishah ra narrated that the Muslims stricken with this grief were like a sheep that goes around worried in a winter night. Ḥassān bin Thābit Anṣārī ra , the poet of Muḥammad’s court, expressed well the feelings of the Companions: You were the pupil of my eye; your death blinded me. Now I do not care whosoever dies after you, because I only dreaded your death.