Fever in Medina
On one occasion, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and some of the Companions (ra) fell ill in Medina. There is a narration regarding this from Hazrat Aisha (ra) in which she states:
“When the Holy Prophet (sa) arrived in Medina, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Bilal (ra) developed a fever. I visited both of them and asked, ‘Father, how do you feel? And Bilal, how do you feel?’”
Hazrat Aisha (ra) further relates:
“Whenever Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) had a fever, he would recite the following couplet:
كُلُّ امْرِئٍ مُصَبَّحٌ فِيْ أَهْلِهِ وَالْمَوْتُ أَدْنَى مِنْ شِرَاكِ نَعْلِهِ
“‘Whenever a person wakes up in their home, he receives the greeting of peace, though he is in a state where death is nearer to him than the laces of his shoes.’
When Hazrat Bilal’s (ra) fever would subside, he would cry loudly and read some couplets in which he would mention the neighbourhoods of Mecca and remember it.”
Hazrat Aisha (ra) narrates:
“I went to the Holy Prophet (sa) and related everything to him, i.e. what Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and Hazrat Bilal (ra) had said. Upon this, the Holy Prophet (sa) prayed, ‘O Allah! Make Medina just as beloved to us as Mecca, or even more than that and make it a place which is conducive to our health. O Allah! Bestow Your blessings in our saa‘ and our mudd.” Mudd and saa‘ are units of measurement, “and send its illness towards Juhfa.’” Juhfa is a place situated 82 miles from Mecca in the direction of Medina.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Manaqib al-Ansar, Bab Maqdam al-Nabi (sa) wa Ashabih al-Medina, Hadith 3926) (Sharh al-Zurqani ala al-Mawahib al-Laduniyyah, Vol. 2 [Beirut, Lebanon: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, 1996], p. 172)