Volume 3, Book 30, Number 113:
Narrated ‘Aisha:
When Allah’s Apostle reached Medina, Abu Bakr and Bilal became ill. When Abu Bakr’s fever got
worse, he would recite (this poetic verse): “Everybody is staying alive with his People, yet Death is
nearer to him than His shoe laces.” And Bilal, when his fever deserted him, would recite: “Would that
I could stay overnight in A valley wherein I would be Surrounded by Idhkhir and Jalil (kinds of
good-smelling grass). Would that one day I could Drink the water of the Majanna, and Would that
(The two mountains) Shama and Tafil would appear to me!” The Prophet said, “O Allah! Curse Shaiba
bin Rabi’a and ‘Utba bin Rabi’a and Umaiya bin Khalaf as they turned us out of our land to the land
of epidemics.” Allah’s Apostle then said, “O Allah! Make us love Medina as we love Mecca or even
more than that. O Allah! Give blessings in our Sa and our Mudd (measures symbolizing food) and
make the climate of Medina suitable for us, and divert its fever towards Aljuhfa.” Aisha added: When
we reached Medina, it was the most unhealthy of Allah’s lands, and the valley of Bathan (the valley
of Medina) used to flow with impure colored water.
Volume 3 – 430 / 1700
SAHIH BUKHARI VOLUME 3 > BOOK 30: VIRTUES OF MADINAH