Azrail came in and spoke:  “Assalamu alaykum.  Are you ready?”

The Prophet Muhammad spoke, “Please wait for my friend Jibril to come and see me for the last time.  I want a word with him before I go.”  And the Angel of Death waited patiently, something he had never done and would not do for anyone else.

Soon Jibril arrived, and with him a host of angels, seventy thousand of them.  They were singing in unison the verses of the Holy book.  Then it was that Muhammad knew his last moment there.  There was no more life to live for him and no more days of sunshine on earth.  His troubles and pains were all past.

 Mikail, too, came down with verses from the Holy Book.  They greeted each other and while Fatimah and her sons wept, he said, “I give you peace, Fatimah.  After six months you will follow me.  We shall not be separated for long.”  He said good-bye to his beloved grandsons and to Aisha.  Then he closed his eyes and could speak no more.  His countenance changed.  His limbs became stiff, but a pleasant fragrance from Paradise was perceived by all those present.  A caller was heard from Heaven, announcing, “Ye mortal men on earth, know that God’s beloved prophet has departed from this world.  God has left us bereft.  Consider what you have lost.”

Here are the verses which the angels recited: “Blessed be the One in whose hand the Kingdom rests.  He has power over all things.  He has created death and life to try you whether your deeds are perfect.  He is great and forgiving.”

Jan Knappert is a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University
of London.  He holds academic degrees in many African languages and has written a number
of books, most recently Epic Poetry in Swahili and Other African Languages.