At first, they were embarrassed, not daring to strip off his garments so as to wash the body according to the usual rites. Respect forbid them to look on his nakedness, as if it were sacrilegious to do so. After long discussions, irresistible sleep weighed down their eyelids; their chins rested on their breasts, when suddenly, a voice proceeding from the chamber of death was heard. They awoke at its sound and it replied to what was passing in their minds: 'Wash the Prophet without undressing him.' That was the solution they sought, and without further delay, they acted on the suggestion. With striped stuff of the Yaman, Abbas erected a kind of tent in the room, so as to keep the crowd away from the body. By the aid of seven skinsful of water drawn from the well of Al-Ghars, at Quba, preferred by Mohammad to any other, Ali, Usama, Abbas and his sons, and Shukran, the freed slave, proceeded with the ritual washing. Abbas, assisted by his sons, Al-Fadl and Qutham, turned the venerated body over. Usama and Shukran sprinkled it with water and Ali wiped it without removing the shirt. The first washing was done with plain water, the next with an infusion of lotus-flowers; and the third, and last, with camphorated water. Abbas and Ali then perfumed every part of the body that comes in contact with the earth during the ceremony of prostration: forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet. 'How sweet is thy smell, O Prophet!' exclaimed Ali; and all marvelled at not finding on Mohammad's frame any of those horrible traces of decomposition following the separation of the soul from the body, with the exception of a slight bluish tinge appearing on the nails. Instead of a shroud, the Prophet was wrapped in the garments he wore at the moment of death: his shirt, which after the ablutions was wrung out and allowed to drip; and a double robe woven at Najran. It was then that Ali and Abbas, having replaced Mohammad on his bed, allowed the crowd to enter. The room was at once filled with as many Believers as it would hold, and after they had said: 'Peace be with thee, O Prophet, and also the Mercy and Blessing of Allah!' they got ready to pray without an "Imam" to lead them, for the real "Imam" was present, although his soul had been called back to the side of the Almighty. Abu Bakr and Umar were in the front rank of the worshippers, and they concluded the prayer by these words: "_O Allah! we bear witness that he hath accomplished the Mission Thou didst entrust to him. O Allah! grant peace to those among us who follow faithfully the orders Thou hast revealed to him and hasten to reunite us with him. Amin!_" And all the people, stirred to the innermost depths of their being, repeated: "_Amin! Amin!_"