Great Character of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (Radi Allahu Anhu)

When Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (Radi Allahu Anhu) was mentioned in the presence of Hazrat Umar (Radi Allahu Anhu) he wept and said, “I wish all my good deeds could compare with what he did on a certain day and a certain night. The night was the one on which he went with Allah’s Messenger (sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam) to the cave and said when they reached it, ‘I swear by Allah that you will not enter it before I have first done so, for if there is anything in it I shall be smitten by it and not you.’ He then entered and swept it and found some holes in the side of it, so he tore up his lower garment and sopped them with it, but as two were still left he thrust his feet into them and told Allah’s Messenger (Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam) to enter. When he had done so Allah’s Messenger ( Sallalal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam) laid his head on his lap and went to sleep. The foot of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique (Radi Allahu Anhu) in one of the holes received a sting, but he did not move for fear Allah’s Messenger (Sallal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam) might awake. His tears, however, fell on the face of Allah’s Messenger (Sallal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam), and he asked him what was the matter with him. He replied, ‘I have been stung.’ Allah’s Messenger (Sallal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam) then spat and the pain left him. The day was when Allah’s Messenger (Sallal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam) left this world and the Arabs apostatized (rebelled) and refused to pay Zakat. He said, ‘If they were to refuse me a tether I would strive with them over it. I said, Successor of Allah’s Messenger (Sallal Laahu Alaihi Wasallam), be affable and gentle to the people,’ but he replied, ‘Have you who was a powerful man in the pre-Islamic period become weak in the Islamic period? The revelation has ceased and the religion has been perfected. Is it to diminish while I am alive?”