Burry me at night when eyes are rested and sight is put to sleep.
Burry me at night when
eyes are rested and sight is put to sleep."
Commenting on Imam Ali's speech after Fatima's burial, the
commentator on Nahjul Balagha- English version-published by
Ansariyan Publication, p.347 - wrote: "The treatment meted out to the
daughter of the Prophet after his death has been extremely painful and
sad. Although Sayyedah Fatima (A) did not live in this world more than
a few months after the death of the Prophet (S), yet even this short
period has a long tale of grief and woe (about her). In this connection,
the first scene that strikes the eyes in that the arrangements for the
funeral rites of the Prophet had not yet been made when the contest
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for power started in the Saqifa of Bani Sa'eda. Naturally, their leaving the body of the Prophet (without burial), must
have injured Hadhrat Fatima's grief-stricken heart to see that those
who claimed love and attachment (to the Prophet) during his life,
became so engrossed in their machinations for power that instead of
consoling his only daughter, they did not even know when the Prophet
(S) was given funeral bath and when he was buried; and the way they
condoled her, was that crowded at her house with material to set fire to
it and tried to secure allegiance by force with all the display of
oppression, compulsion and violence. All these excesses were with a
view to so obliterate the prestigious position of this house that it might
not remain its lost prestige on any occasion. With this aim in view, in
order to crush her economic position, her claim for (the estate of)
Fadak was turned down by dubbing it as false, the effect of which was
that Hadhrat Fatima (A) made the dying will that none of them should
Fatima Bint Muhammad was ready to meet her Lord. She bathed, than
lay down in her garment... She then instructed Asma Bint Umais to
wait awhile and then to call her name; if there was no answer, this
would mean that she (A) had departed towards her Lord. Asma waited awhile, then called Fatima's name... but there was no
Asma repeated the call: "O daughter of the chosen Muhammad! O daughter of the most honorable of them whom women bore! O daughter of the best of those who have walked on gravel! O
daughter of him who was at `A distance of but two bow-lengths or
(even) nearer" (a Quranic verse, (53:9))
...There is no answer... silence overwhelms the house ...Asma then
proceeds towards Fatima and finds her dead.
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