I am nothing but the son of an Arab woman, who ate flesh dried in the sun." He returned to Medina to die.

In his farewell to his congregation, he said: "Every thing happens according to the will of God, and has its appointed time, which can neither be hastened nor avoided.

I return to him who sent me, and my last command to you is, that ye love, honor, and uphold each other, that ye exhort each other to faith and constancy in belief, and to the performance of pious deeds.

My life has been for your good, and so will be my death." In his dying agony, his head was reclined on the lap of Ayesha.

From time to time he had dipped his hand in a vase of water, and moistened his face.