Musnad Abi Ya'la 4579 — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned from al-Baqi' and came in to me. At that time I was feeling a severe pain in my head and was saying: "Oh, my head!" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Aishah! By Allah, (from the severity of the pain) I too am saying: Oh, my head!" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "What harm would it do you if you died before me, and then I prepared and shrouded you, prayed the funeral prayer over you and buried you?" I said: By Allah! I think that if you did that, then after burying me you would come straight back to my house and be occupied with another of your wives. Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) smiled on hearing this. Then his (peace and blessings be upon him) pain kept increasing until the illness became severe, while he was in the house of Sayyidah Maymunah (may Allah be pleased with her). He (peace and blessings be upon him) called his pure wives and asked their permission for him to spend the days of his illness in my house, and they gave him permission. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came out, supported between two men of his household, one of whom was Sayyiduna al-Fadl bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and the other was another man. Because of weakness his (peace and blessings be upon him) feet were making lines on the ground, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) had a band tied around his blessed head, until he came to my house. Ubaydullah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I narrated this hadith to Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him), and he asked: Do you know who that other man was? I said: No. He said: It was Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him). Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fainted and his pain grew more severe. When he recovered, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Pour over me seven water-skins of water from different wells, so that I may go out to the people and give them my instructions." Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said: We seated him (peace and blessings be upon him) in a basin (tub) belonging to Sayyidah Hafsah bint Umar (may Allah be pleased with her) and poured water over him, until he (peace and blessings be upon him) began to gesture with his hand: "Enough, enough." Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him), as Ayyub bin Bashir (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated to me, came out with a band tied around his head and sat on the pulpit. The first thing he (peace and blessings be upon him) spoke of was that he (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for the martyrs of Uhud and sought forgiveness for them abundantly. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty gave one of the servants of Allah the choice between this world and what is with Him, and he chose what is with Allah." He said: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) understood this and began to weep; he knew that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) meant himself. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Bakr, take it easy. Look, all of you: close all these doors that open into the mosque, except the door of the house of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), for I do not know anyone among my companions more excellent in companionship and fellowship than Abu Bakr."