Tarikh (al-Tabari) 1765
The illness of the Prophet ﷺ and his death
مَعْرِفَةِ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ بِيَوْمِ وَفَاتِهِ، عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ وإِخْبَارِهم بِمَوْتِهِ ﷺ يَوْمَ مَاتَ وَهُمْ بِالْيَمَنِ رَوَى الْبُخَارِيُّ عَنْ جَرِيرِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ؓ قَالَ: كُنْتُ بِالْيَمَنِ فَلَقِيتُ رَجُلَيْنِ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْيَمَنِ ذَا كَنَاعٍ وَذَا عَمْرٍو، فَجَعَلْتُ أُحَدِّثُهُمْ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ لِي: إِنْ كَانَ تَقُولُ حَقًّا فَقَدْ مَضَى صَاحِبُكَ إِلَى أَجَلِهِ مُنْذُ ثَلَاثٍ، قَالَ: فَأَقْبَلْتُ وَأَقْبَلَ مَعِي حَتَّى إِذَا كُنَّا فِي بَعْضِ الطَّرِيقِ رُفِعَ لَنَا رَكْبٌ مِنْ قِبَلِ الْمَدِينَةِ، فَسَأَلْنَاهُمْ فَقَالُوا: قُبِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ. [وَاسْتُخْلِفَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ، وَالنَّاسُ صَالِحُونَ. قَالَ: فَقَالَ لِي: أَخْبِرْ صَاحِبَكَ أَنَّا قَدْ جِئْنَا، وَلَعَلَّنَا سَنَعُودُ- إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ- وَرَجَعَ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ، قَالَ فَأَخْبَرْتُ أَبَا بَكْرٍ بِحَدِيثِهِمْ، فَقَالَ: أَفَلَا جِئْتَ بِهِمْ، قَالَ: فَلَمَّا كَانَ بَعْدُ، قَالَ لِي ذُو عُمَرَ يَا جَرِيرُ، إِنَّ بِكَ عَلَيَّ كَرَامَةً وَإِنِّي مُخْبِرُكَ خَبَرًا، إِنَّكُمْ مَعْشَرَ الْعَرَبِ، لَمْ تَزَالُوا بِخَيْرٍ مَا كُنْتُمْ إِذَا هَلَكَ أَمِيرٌ، تَأَمَّرْتُمْ فِي آخَرَ، فَإِذَا كَانَتْ بِالسَّيْفِ، كَانُوا مُلُوكًا يَغْضَبُونَ غَضَبَ الْمُلُوكِ، وَيَرْضَوْنَ رِضَى الْمُلُوكِ]. وَرُوِيَ عَنْ كَعْبِ بْنِ عَدِيٍّ قَالَ: أَقْبَلْتُ فِي وَفْدٍ مِنْ أَهْلِ الْحِيرَةِ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَعَرَضَ عَلَيْنَا الْإِسْلَامَ فَأَسْلَمْنَا ثُمَّ انْصَرَفْنَا إِلَى الْحِيرَةِ فَلَمْ نَلْبَثْ أَنْ جَاءَنَا وَفَاةُ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَارْتَدَّ أَصْحَابِي وَقَالُوا: لَوْ كَانَ نَبِيًّا لَمْ يَمُتْ فَقُلْتُ: قَدْ مَاتَ الْأَنْبِيَاءُ قَبْلَهُ، وَثَبَتُّ عَلَى الْإِسْلَامِ، ثُمَّ خَرَجْتُ أُرِيدُ الْمَدِينَةَ فَمَرَرْتُ بِرَاهِبٍ كُنَّا لَا نَقْطَعُ أَمْرًا دُونَهُ فَأُخْبِرْتُهُ فَأَخْرَجَ سِفْرًا فَتَصَفَّحَ فِيهِ فَإِذَا بِصِفَةِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ كَمَا رَأَيْتُهُ وَإِذَا هُوَ يَمُوتُ فِي الْحِينِ الَّذِي مَاتَ فِيهِ، فَاشْتَدَّتْ بَصِيرَتِي فِي إِيمَانِي، وَقَدِمْتُ عَلَى أَبِي بَكْرٍ فَأَعْلَمْتُهُ. [فَأَقَمْتُ عِنْدَهُ، فَوَجَّهَنِي إِلَى الْمُقَوْقِسِ، فَرَجَعْتُ، فَوَجَّهَنِي أَيْضًا عُمَرُ بْنُ الْخَطَّابِ، فَقَدِمْتُ عَلَيْهِ بِكِتَابِهِ، فَأَتَيْتُهُ وَقْعَةَ الْيَرْمُوكِ، وَلَمْ أَعْلَمْ بِهَا، فَقَالَ لِي: عَلِمْتَ أَنَّ الرُّومَ قَتَلَتِ الْعَدُوَّ، وَهَزَمَتْهُمْ، قُلْتُ: كَلَّا، قَالَ: وَلَمَّا قُلْتُ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَعَدَ نَبِيَّهُ ﷺ أَنْ يُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ، وَلَيْسَ يُخْلِفُ الْمِيعَادَ، قَالَ: إِنَّ نَبِيَّكُمْ قَدْ صَدَقَكُمْ، قُتِلَتِ الرُّومُ، وَاللَّهُ قَتْلَ عَادٍ، ثُمَّ سَأَلَنِي عَنْ وُجُوهِ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ، فَأَهْدَى إِلَى عُمَرُ وَإِلَيْهِمْ، وَكَانَ مِمَّنْ أُهْدِيَ إِلَيْهِ عَلِيٌّ وَعَبْدُ الرَّحْمَنِ وَالزُّبَيْرُ، وَأَحْسَبُهُ ذَكَرَ الْعَبَّاسَ، قَالَ كَعْبٌ: وَكُنْتُ شَرِيكًا لِعُمَرَ فِي الْيَمَنِ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ، فَلَمَّا فَرَضَ الدِّيوَانَ، فَرَضَ لِي فِي بَنِي عَدِيِّ بْنِ كَعْبٍ]. وَرَوَى ابْنُ سَعْدٍ عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عَمْرٍو الْأَسْلَمِيِّ عَنْ شُيُوخِهِ قَالُوا: كَانَ عَمْرُو بْنُ الْعَاصِ عَامِلًا لِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلَى عَمَّانَ فَجَاءَهُ يَهُودِيٌّ فَقَالَ أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ سَأَلْتُكَ عَنْ شَيْءٍ يَخْشَى عَلَيَّ مِنْكَ ؟ قَالَ: لَا، قَالَ الْيَهُودِيُّ: أَنْشُدُكَ بِاللَّهِ مَنْ أَرْسَلَكَ إِلَيْنَا ؟ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ الْيَهُودِيُّ: آللَّهُ إِنَّكَ لَتَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ لَهُ عَمْرٌو: اللَّهُمَّ نَعَمْ، قَالَ الْيَهُودِيُّ: إِنْ كَانَ مَا تَقُولُ حَقًّا لَقَدْ مَاتَ الْيَوْمَ، ثُمَّ بَلَغَ عَمْرٌو وَفَاةَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ. وَرَوَى ابْنُ سَعْدٍ وَأَبُو نُعَيْمٍ عَنِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ الْجُهَنِيِّ قَالَ: بَعَثَنِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ إِلَى الْيَمَنِ وَلَوْ أَظُنُّ أَنَّهُ يَمُوتُ لَمْ أُفَارِقْهُ فَأَتَانِي الْحَبْرُ فَقَالَ: إِنَّ مُحَمَّدًا قَدْ مَاتَ قُلْتُ لَهُ: مَتَى ؟ قَالَ: الْيَوْمَ فَلَوْ أَنَّ عِنْدِي سِلَاحًا لَقَتَلْتُهُ، فَلَمْ أَمْكُثْ إِلَّا يَسِيرًا حَتَّى أَتَى كِتَابٌ مِنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ بِذَلِكَ فَدَعَوْتُ الْحَبْرَ فَقُلْتُ: مِنْ أَيْنَ تَعْلَمُ ذَلِكَ ؟ فَقَالَ: إِنَّهُ نَبِيٌّ نَجِدُهُ فِي الْكِتَابِ أَنَّهُ يَمُوتُ يَوْمَ كَذَا وَكَذَا، قُلْتُ: وَكَيْفَ، يَكُونُ بَعْدَهُ ؟ قَالَ: تَسْتَدِيرُ رَحَاكُمْ إِلَى خَمْسٍ وَثَلَاثِينَ سَنَةً مَا زَادَ يَوْمًا. وَرَوَى ابْنُ عَسَاكِرَ عَنْ كَعْبِ الْأَحْبَارِ قَالَ: خَرَجْتُ أُرِيدُ الْإِسْلَامَ فَلَقِيتُ ذَا قُرُبَاتٍ الْحِمْيَرِيَّ، فَقَالَ لِي: أَيْنَ تَقْصِدُ فَأَخْبَرْتُهُ فَقَالَ لِي: لَئِنْ كَانَ نَبِيًّا إِنَّهُ الْآنَ لَتَحْتَ التُّرَابِ، فَخَرَجْتُ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِرَاكِبٍ فَقَالَ: مَاتَ مُحَمَّدٌ. وَرَوَى ابْنُ عَسَاكِرَ عَنْ أَبِي ذُؤَيْبٍ خُوَيْلِدٍ وَقِيلَ: ابْنُ الْحَارِثِ الْهُذَلِيُّ قَالَ: بَلَغَنَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَلِيلٌ فَاسْتَشْعَرْتُ حُزْنًا، وَبِتُّ بِأَطْوَلِ لَيْلَةٍ لَا يَنْجَابُ دَيْجُورُهَا، وَلَا يَطْلُعُ نُورُهَا فَظَلَلْتُ أُقَاسِي طُولَهَا حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ قُرْبَ السَّحَرِ أَغْفَيْتُ فَهَتَفَ بِي هَاتِفٌ وَهُوَ يَقُولُ: خَطْبٍ أَجَلُّ أَنَاخَ بِالْإِسْلَامِ بَيْنَ النَّخِيلِ وَمَعْقِدِ الْآطَامِ قُبِضَ النَّبِيُّ مُحَمَّدٌ فَعُيُونُنَا تُذْرِي الدُّمُوعَ عَلَيْهِ بِالتَّسْجَامِ فَوَثَبْتُ مِنْ نَوْمِي فَزِعَا فَنَظَرْتُ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ فَلَمْ أَرَ إِلَّا سَعْدًا الذَّابِحَ فَتَفَاءَلْتُ بِهِ ذَبْحًا يَقَعُ فِي الْعَرَبِ، وَعَلِمْتُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَدْ قُبِضَ وَهُوَ مَيِّتٌ مِنْ عِلَّتِهِ، فَرَكِبْتُ نَاقَتِي وَسِرْتُ، فَلَمَّا أَصْبَحْتُ طَلَبْتُ شَيْئًا أَزْجُرُ بِهِ فَعَنَّ شَيْهَمٌ- يَعْنِي الْقُنْفُذَ- وَقَدْ قُبِضَ عَلَى صِلٍّ يَعْنِي الْحَيَّةَ فَهِيَ تَلْتَوِي عَلَيْهِ وَالشَّيْهَمُ يَقْضِمُهَا حَتَّى أَكَلَهَا، فَزَجَرْتُ ذَلِكَ وَقُلْتُ: الشَّيْهَمُ شَيْءٌ مُهِمٌّ وَالْتِوَاءُ الصِّلِّ الْتِوَاءُ النَّاسِ عَنِ الْحَقِّ عَلَى الْقَائِمِ بَعْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ ثُمَّ أَوَّلْتُ أَكْلَ الشَّيْهَمِ إِيَّاهَا غَلَبَةَ الْقَائِمِ بَعْدَهُ عَلَى الْأَمْرِ فَحَثَثْتُ نَاقَتِي حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُ بِالْغَابَةِ فَزَجَرْتُ الطَّائِرَ، فَأَخْبَرَنِي بِوَفَاتِهِ وَنَعَبَ غُرَابٌ سَانِحٌ، فَنَطَقَ بِمِثْلِ ذَلِكَ، فَتَعَوَّذْتُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شَرِّ مَا عَنَّ لِي فِي طَرِيقِي، وَقَدِمْتُ الْمَدِينَةَ وَلَهَا ضَجِيجٌ بِالْبُكَاءِ كَضَجِيجِ الْحَاجِّ إِذَا أَهَلُّوا بِالْإِحْرَامِ فَقُلْتُ: مَهْ ؟ فَقَالُوا: قُبِضَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَجِئْتُ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ فَوَجَدْتُهُ خَالِيًا فَأَتَيْتُ بَيْتَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَأَصَبْتُ بَابَهُ مُرْتَجًّا، وَقِيلَ: هُوَ مُسَجًّى وَقَدْ خَلَا بِهِ أَهْلُهُ.
Translation
✧ The People of the Book's knowledge of the day of his death ﷺ and their reporting of his death ﷺ on the day he died, while they were in Yemen Al-Bukhārī narrated from Jarīr b. ʿAbd Allāh ؓ who said: I was in Yemen when I met two men from the people of Yemen, Dhū Kanāʿ and Dhū ʿAmr, and I began to tell them about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. One of them said to me: If what you say is true, then your companion has passed to his appointed term three days ago. He said: So I set off, and they set off with me, until when we were on part of the road, a caravan coming from the direction of al-Madīnah appeared to us. We asked them, and they said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been taken in death, and Abū Bakr has been appointed as his successor, and the people are righteous. He said: One of them said to me: Inform your companion that we have come, and perhaps we will return—if Allah wills—and he went back to Yemen. He said: So I informed Abū Bakr of their talk, and he said: Why did you not bring them? He said: Then later, Dhū ʿUmar said to me: O Jarīr, you have a high standing with me, and I am telling you something. You Arabs will remain in good as long as, when a leader dies, you deliberate on another. But if it becomes a matter of the sword, they become kings who grow angry with the anger of kings and are pleased with the pleasure of kings. It is narrated from Kaʿb b. ʿAdī who said: I came in a delegation from the people of al-Ḥīrah to the Prophet ﷺ, and he presented Islam to us, and we became Muslims. Then we returned to al-Ḥīrah, and it was not long before the news of the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came to us. My companions apostatized and said: If he were a prophet, he would not have died. I said: Prophets before him died, and I remained firm in Islam. Then I set out intending to go to al-Madīnah, and I passed by a monk whom we would not decide any matter without consulting. I told him, and he brought out a book and looked through it, and there was the description of the Prophet ﷺ just as I had seen him, and that he would die at the very time in which he died. So my insight in my faith grew strong, and I came to Abū Bakr and informed him. [Then I stayed with him, and he sent me to al-Muqawqis, and I returned. Then ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb also sent me, and I came to him with his letter. I came to him at the Battle of al-Yarmūk, and I did not know about it. He said to me: Do you know that the Byzantines have killed the enemy and defeated them? I said: Not at all. He said: And when I said that Allah promised His Prophet ﷺ to make him prevail over the entire religion, and He does not break His promise, he said: Your Prophet has told you the truth. The Byzantines were killed, by Allah, with a slaughter like that of ʿĀd. Then he asked me about the leading figures among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, and I told him. So he sent gifts to ʿUmar and to them. Among those to whom gifts were sent were ʿAlī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, and al-Zubayr, and I think he mentioned al-ʿAbbās. Kaʿb said: I had been a partner of ʿUmar in Yemen during the Jāhiliyyah, and when he established the dīwān, he assigned me a stipend among the Banū ʿAdī b. Kaʿb.] Ibn Saʿd narrated from Muḥammad b. ʿAmr al-Aslamī, from his shaykhs, who said: ʿAmr b. al-ʿĀṣ was the governor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ over ʿAmmān, and a Jew came to him and said: What do you think if I ask you about something concerning which you fear for me from you? He said: No. The Jew said: I adjure you by Allah, who sent you to us? He said: By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The Jew said: By Allah, do you know that he is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? ʿAmr said to him: By Allah, yes. The Jew said: If what you say is true, he has died today. Then the news of the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached ʿAmr. Ibn Saʿd and Abū Nuʿaym narrated from al-Ḥārith b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Juhanī who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent me to Yemen, and had I thought that he would die, I would not have left him. Then a Jewish scholar came to me and said: Muḥammad has died. I said to him: When? He said: Today. If I had had a weapon with me, I would have killed him. It was only a short while before a letter came from Abū Bakr about that. So I called the Jewish scholar and said: How do you know that? He said: He is a prophet whom we find in the Book, and that he would die on such-and-such a day. I said: And what will happen after him? He said: Your millstone will turn for thirty-five years, not a day more. Ibn ʿAsākir narrated from Kaʿb al-Aḥbār who said: I set out intending to embrace Islam, and I met Dhū Qurubāt al-Ḥimyarī, who said to me: Where are you heading? I told him. He said to me: If he is a prophet, then he is now beneath the earth. Then I went on, and there was a rider who said: Muḥammad has died. Ibn ʿAsākir narrated from Abū Dhuʾayb Khuwaylid—and it is said: Ibn al-Ḥārith al-Hudhalī—who said: News reached us that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was ill, and I felt deep grief within myself. I spent the longest night whose darkness would not lift and whose light would not appear, and I kept enduring its length until near dawn, when I dozed off. Then a caller called out to me, saying: A grave event has alighted upon Islam, between the palm trees and the place where the fortresses stand. The Prophet Muḥammad has been taken in death, and our eyes shed tears over him in streams. So I leapt up from my sleep in alarm, and I looked at the sky, and I saw nothing but Saʿd al-Dhābiḥ. I took it as a bad omen of a slaughter that would befall the Arabs, and I knew that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had been taken and had died from his illness. So I mounted my she-camel and traveled. When morning came, I sought something with which to divine by the flight of birds, and a porcupine—meaning a hedgehog—appeared, having seized a serpent—meaning a snake—and it was coiling around it while the porcupine was gnawing at it until it ate it. I took that as an omen and said: The porcupine is an important matter, and the coiling of the serpent is the turning away of the people from the truth against the one who will rise after the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then I interpreted the porcupine's eating it as the victory of the one who will rise after him over the affair. So I urged my she-camel on until I was at al-Ghābah, and I divined by the flight of a bird, and it informed me of his death. A crow cawed from the right, and it spoke the like of that, so I sought refuge with Allah from the evil of what appeared to me on my way. I arrived in al-Madīnah while there was a loud clamor of weeping like the clamor of pilgrims when they enter the state of iḥrām. I said: What is this? They said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been taken in death. So I came to the mosque and found it empty. Then I went to the house of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and found its door closed, and it was said: He is shrouded, and his family is alone with him.
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