The Last Day Alive

in a narration by anas bin malik, he said: "while the muslims were performing the dawn prayer on monday — led by abu bakr, they were surprised to see the messenger of allâh [pbuh] raising the curtain of ‘aishah’s room. he looked at them while they were praying aligned properly and smiled cheerfully. seeing him, abu bakr withdrew to join the lines and give way to him to lead the prayer. for he thought that the prophet [pbuh] wanted to go out and pray." anas said: "the muslims, who were praying, were so delighted that they were almost too enraptured at their prayers. the messenger of allâh [pbuh] made them a gesture to continue their prayer, went into the room and drew down the curtain." [ibid 2/640]

the messenger of allâh [pbuh] did not live for the next prayer time.

when it was daytime, the prophet [pbuh] called fatimah and told her something in a secret voice that made her cry. then he whispered to her something else which made her laugh. ‘aishah enquired from her after the prophet’s death, as to this weeping and laughing to which fatimah replied: "the first time he disclosed to me that he would not recover from his illness and i wept. then he told me that i would be the first of his family to join him, so i laughed." [sahih al-bukhari 2/638]

he gave fatimah glad tidings that she would become the lady of all women of the world. [rahmat-ul-lil'alameen 1/282]

fatimah witnessed the great pain that afflicted her father. so she said: "what great pain my father is in!". to these words, the prophet [pbuh] remarked:

"he will not suffer any more when today is over." [sahih al-bukhari 2/641]

he asked that al-hasan and al-husain be brought to him. he kissed them and recommended that they be looked after. he asked to see his wives. they were brought to him. he preached them and told them to remember allâh. pain grew so much severe that the trace of poison he had at khaibar came to light. it was so sore that he said to ‘aishah: "i still feel the painful effect of that food i tasted at khaibar. i feel as if death is approaching." [ibid 2/637] he ordered the people to perform the prayers and be attentive to slaves. he repeated it several times. [ibid 2/637]