Hazrat Bilal (R.A.) was once asked by someone, "How did you see the Holy Prophet ﷺ for the very first time?" Hazrat Bilal (R.A.) replied, "I knew very little about the people of Mecca because I was a slave. In Arabia, the treatment of slaves was highly inhumane; they were forced to work far beyond their capacity. Consequently, I never got enough time to go out and meet people, so I had absolutely no knowledge about the Holy Prophet ﷺ, Islam, or anything of that sort. One day, I was struck by a severe fever. It was the peak of winter, and the extreme cold combined with the fever left me incredibly weak. Shivering, I wrapped myself in a quilt and lay down. Meanwhile, my master came to check whether I was grinding barley or not. Seeing me lying down under the quilt, he flew into a rage. He stripped away my quilt, and as a punishment, made me take off my shirt as well. He then forced me to sit near the door in the open courtyard and ordered, 'Sit here and grind the barley!' Under the freezing cold, burning with a fever, and forced into such hard labor, I was crying bitterly while grinding the barley. After a short while, there was a knock at the door. I gave permission to enter, and a man with an exceptionally dignified and luminous (noorani) face walked in. He asked gently, 'O youth, why do you weep?' In response, I said out of frustration, 'Go mind your own business! What do you care why I cry? There are many here who ask, but no one ever brings a cure.' In short, Bilal spoke some very harsh words to the Prophet ﷺ. Hearing these words, the Holy Prophet ﷺ turned and began to walk away. Seeing him leave, Bilal called out, 'That's it? Didn't I say that everyone asks, but no one brings a cure?' Even upon hearing this, the Prophet ﷺ kept walking. Bilal says that the faint glimmer of hope that had risen in his heart—that this man might help—was now completely gone. But how could Bilal know that the person he was dealing with was none other than the 'Mercy to the Worlds' (Rahmat-ul-lil-Alameen)? Bilal relates that after a short while, that same luminous man returned. In one hand, he held a bowl of warm milk, and in the other, some dates. He handed the dates and milk to me and said, 'Eat, drink, and go to sleep.' I asked in worry, 'Then who will grind this barley? If it isn't ground, my master will beat me severely in the morning.' The Prophet ﷺ replied, 'You go to sleep, you can take the ground barley from me.' Bilal went to sleep, and the Holy Prophet ﷺ spent the entire night grinding the mill for an unknown Abyssinian slave. In the morning, he handed the ground barley to Bilal and left. The second night, the exact same thing happened; the Prophet ﷺ brought milk and medicine for Bilal and spent the entire night grinding the mill. This continued consecutively for three days until Bilal recovered completely. This was the introduction from which that immortal love was born, because of which even today, Bilal is remembered as the 'Lover of the Prophet' first, and a companion later. After the demise of the Holy Prophet ﷺ, Hazrat Bilal stopped reciting the Azan. This was because whenever he reached the words 'Ashhadu anna Muhammadar Rasoolullah' during the Azan, the intense memory of the Prophet ﷺ would choke his throat with hiccups, and he would burst into tears uncontrollably. This spirit of sacrifice and brotherhood is incredibly powerful. May Allah grant us all the ability to act upon it. Ameen." (Narrated — Selection: Islamic Tube Pro App)
