me. He whom I have ever blasphemed his honour, here I am offering my honour so that he may  avenge himself.”
Then he descended, and performed the noon prayer. Again he returned to the pulpit and sat on it. He  resumed his first speech about enmity and some other things.
A man then said: “You owe me three Dirhams.” The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said: “Fadl, pay him  the money.” He went on saying:
“I admonish you to be good to Al-Ansar (the Helpers). They are my family and with them I found  shelter. They have acquitted themselves credibly of the responsibility that fell upon them and  now there remains what you have to do. You should fully acknowledge and appreciate the favour  that they have shown, and should overlook their faults.”
In another version:
“The number of believers would increase, but the number of Helpers would decrease to the  extent that they would be among men as salt in the food. So he who from among you occupies a  position of responsibility and is powerful enough to do harm or good to the people, he should  fully acknowledge and appreciate the favour that these benefactors have shown and overlook  their faults.”
And said:
“Allâh, the Great, has given a slave of His the opportunity to make a choice between whatever he  desires of Allâh’s provisions in this world, and what He keeps for him in the world, but he has  opted for the latter.”
Abu Sa‘îd Al-Khudri said: “Upon hearing that, Abu Bakr cried and said: ‘We sacrifice our fathers and  mothers for your sake.’ We wondered why Abu Bakr said such a thing. People said: ‘Look at that old  man! The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) says about a slave of Allâh who was granted the  right between the best fortunes of this world and the bounty of Allâh in the Hereafter, but he says: We  sacrifice our fathers and mothers for your sake!’ It was later on that we realized what he had aimed  at.
The Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) was the slave informed to choose. We also acknowledged  that Abu Bakr was the most learned among us.”
Then the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him) said:
“The fellow I feel most secure in his company is Abu Bakr. If I were to make friendship with any  other one than Allâh, I would have Abu Bakr a bosom friend of mine. For him I feel affection and  brotherhood of Islam. No gate shall be kept open in the Mosque except that of Abu Bakr’s.”
FOUR DAYS BEFORE HIS DEATH:
On Thursday, four days before the death of the Messenger of Allâh (Peace be upon him), he said to  people — though he was suffering from a severe pain: “Come here. I will cause you to write  something  so that you will never fall into error.” Upon this ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said: “The Prophet of Allâh
(Peace  be upon him) is suffering from acute pain and you have the Qur’ân with you; the Book of Allâh is  sufficient unto you.” Others however wanted the writing to be made. When Muhammad (Peace be  upon  him) heard them debating over it, he ordered them to go away and leave him alone.
THE DAY HE RECOMMENDED THREE THINGS:
1. Jews, Christians and polytheists should be expelled out of Arabia.
2. He recommended that delegations should be honoured and entertained, in a way similar to the  one he used to do.
3. As for the third — the narrator said that he had forgotten it. It could have been adherence to the
Holy Book and the Sunnah. It was likely to be the accomplishment and the mobilization of
Osamah’s army, or it could have been performance of prayers and being attentive to slaves.
In spite of the strain of disease and suffering from pain, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to lead  all the prayers till that Thursday — four days before he died. On that day he led the sunset prayer and  recited:

“By the winds (or angels or the Messengers of Allâh) sent forth one after another.” 77:1
In the evening he grew so sick that he could not overcome the strain of disease or go out to enter the
Mosque. ‘Aishah said: The Prophet (Peace be upon him) asked: “Have the people performed the  prayer?” “No. They haven’t. They are waiting for you.” “Put some water in the washing pot.” Said he.
We did what he ordered. So he washed and wanted to stand up, but he fainted. When he came round  he asked again “Have the people prayed?” Then the same sequence of events took place again and