قالت عائشة رضي الله عنها: «لَمَّا كان النبي ﷺ على فراش الموت، وكان أزواجه كلهن حاضرات، أقبلت فاطمة رضي الله عنها تمشي، وكان مشيها كمشي رسول الله ﷺ».

‘Āishah  narrates, “As the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم lay on his deathbed, with all of his wives present, his daughter Fāṭimah  came forward, walking just as the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم would walk.

ﷺ اسْتَقْبَلَهَا، فَقَالَ: "مَرْحَبًا يَا بُنَيَّتِي." ثُمَّ أَجْلَسَهَا عَنْ يَمِينِهِ، فَأَسَرَّ إِلَيْهَا حَدِيثًا فَبَكَتْ فَاطِمَةُ. ثُمَّ أَسَرَّ إِلَيْهَا حَدِيثًا آخَرَ فَضَحِكَتْ. فَسَأَلْتُهَا عَمَّا أَبْكَاهَا، فَقَالَتْ: "مَا كُنْتُ لِأُفْشِيَ سِرَّ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ." مَا رَأَيْتُ فَرَحًا قَرِيبًا مِنْ حُزْنٍ كَمَا رَأَيْتُ فِي ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمِ، فَقُلْتُ لَهَا وَهِيَ تَبْكِي: "خَصَّكِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ بِالْحَدِيثِ دُونَنَا، ثُمَّ تَبْكِينَ؟" فَسَأَلْتُهَا مَرَّةً أُخْرَى عَمَّا قَالَ لَهَا، فَقَالَتْ: "مَا كُنْتُ لِأُفْشِيَ سِرَّ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ." فَلَمَّا تُوُفِّيَ ﷺ، سَأَلْتُهَا فَقَالَتْ: "إِنَّهُ قَالَ لِي: إِنَّ جِبْرِيلَ كَانَ يُعَارِضُنِي الْقُرْآنَ كُلَّ سَنَةٍ مَرَّةً، وَإِنَّهُ عَارَضَنِي الْعَامَ مَرَّتَيْنِ، وَلَا أُرَى الْأَجَلَ إِلَّا قَدِ اقْتَرَبَ، فَاتَّقِي اللَّهَ وَاصْبِرِي، فَإِنَّهُ نِعْمَ السَّلَفُ أَنَا لَكِ." فَبَكَيْتُ، فَقَالَ: "أَمَا تَرْضَيْنَ أَنْ تَكُونِي سَيِّدَةَ نِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ؟" فَضَحِكْتُ. (Note: the attribution "[the first lady of the believers]" is rendered as سَيِّدَةَ نِسَاءِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ.) يَقُولُ الْإِمَامُ النَّوَوِيُّ (ت ٦٧٦هـ): إِنَّ هَذَا فِي الْحَقِيقَةِ نُبُوءَتَانِ فِي نُبُوءَةٍ وَاحِدَةٍ. الْأُولَى أَنَّهُ ﷺ أَخْبَرَ أَنَّ هَذَا الْمَرَضَ، دُونَ أَيِّ مَرَضٍ سَبَقَهُ، كَانَ عَلَامَةً عَلَى اقْتِرَابِ أَجَلِهِ، وَأَنَّ فَاطِمَةَ الصَّغِيرَةَ — وَكَانَتْ فِي أَوَائِلِ عِشْرِيнَاتِهَا آنَذَاكَ — سَتَمُوتُ قَبْلَ أَيِّ أَحَدٍ آخَرَ مِنْ أَهْلِهِ.

He صلى الله عليه وسلم received her, saying, ‘Welcome, my dear daughter.’ He then sat her down beside him and uttered a secret to her which caused Fāṭimah to weep. He then uttered another secret to her, making her laugh. I asked her what made her cry, but she said, ‘I would never disclose the Messenger of Allah’s صلى الله عليه وسلم secret.’ I had never seen a joy and grief so closely as I saw on that day, so I said to her when she wept, ‘The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم privileges you with his words, and not us, and then you weep?’ I asked her again what he said, but she responded, ‘I would never disclose the Messenger of Allah’s صلى الله عليه وسلم secret.’ When he صلى الله عليه وسلم died, I asked her again, and she said he told her, ‘Gabriel used to review the Qur’an with me one time each year, and he reviewed it twice with me this year. I cannot understand from this except that my time has arrived, and you will be the first of my family to catch up with me.’ Fāṭimah said, ‘I cried at this, and so he discreetly said to me, ‘Are you not pleased to be the queen of the believers [in Paradise]?’ And that is what caused me to laugh.’”288 Imam al-Nawawī (d. 1277) points out that this is actually two prophecies in one. The first is that he صلى الله عليه وسلم foretold that this sickness, and not any other illness before it, was a harbinger that his time had come, and that the young Fāṭimah—in her early twenties at that time—would die before any other member of his family.