Fifty Days, and the Verses of Forgiveness

Thereafter a command was given that none might speak to them — to him and the other two. So Kaʿb learned that there were these two others. One of them was an elderly man who needed much help from his wife; and the word was: you may not stay with him, you may not speak to him. That was a bitter thing. He says: "I tried to go to" — it seems to have been a cousin, or a very close friend — "and jumped over his wall to speak with him, and even he would not speak to me; and when I pressed him, he said: the Prophet (peace be upon him) has told us not to speak to you" — or words to that effect. That was bitter indeed. It is a deeply moving story.

And then, he said, the other two simply stayed at home; they would not go out. "But I would still go out; I would try to go to the masjid, and try to say salām to the Prophet (peace be upon him), and then look from the corner of my eye to see whether he said wa-ʿalaykum al-salām or not." He was very bold. But at length their wives too were told to separate from them and to withdraw — not divorce, but to leave them alone. That is hard. Fifty days it lasted; fifty days. Only one of them, being in real need, was permitted to keep his wife, upon asking leave; otherwise not. And Kaʿb said: perhaps I should go and ask for something — but no. Even at that time an emperor, a leader of the Sassanids,^**** sent word to Kaʿb: a man such as you ought not to be humiliated so; come and join us. He says: "Immediately I took that letter and threw it into the oven, into the fire." And that is what one ought to do: whenever there is a fitnah, one ought to put it away at once; one should not linger over it.

And so at last the announcement. Consider what is most remarkable here: that the announcement of their forgiveness was made not by the Prophet (peace be upon him) alone, but by a verse of the Qur'an, to be recited for ever. It might have been that the Prophet (peace be upon him) simply forgave them, and there an end. But no: there are great verses here, beginning at verse 117, and then verse 118 — and the three who were left behind, until the earth was straitened upon them for all its vastness; and then Allah accepted their repentance; Allah is the Most Accepting of repentance, the Most Merciful.

And there is the account of the man who first brought him the news. There is a tradition that when someone brings you good news you give him a gift. He says: "By Allah, on that day I had no other possession but the clothing on my back; so I took it off and gave it to him" — such was his joy. And then follows a long account; and Kaʿb went at length to meet the Prophet (peace be upon him), and the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: your truthfulness has saved you; your truthfulness has saved you. And today you are better than on the day your mother bore you — meaning that this day is more mubārak and blessed, a better day, than the day his mother bore him. And he says: "I would never trade that for anything else. I would never trade that for anything else."