Her father's grief at the grave

Anas ibn Malik reported being present at the burial of one of the Prophet's ﷺ daughters, and described the Prophet ﷺ sitting at the graveside with tears in his eyes.

He asked whether anyone present had not had relations with his wife the previous night. Abu Talhah said that he had not, and the Prophet ﷺ told him to go down into the grave — which he did, and buried her.

The report itself, as usually transmitted in Sahih al-Bukhari, does not name which daughter this was. The biographical and commentary literature generally identifies her as Umm Kulthum, on the grounds of when the burial is placed and who is recorded as present.

Little else is recorded of her directly. This scene — her father's visible grief, and the plain practical instruction he gave in the middle of it — is one of the few moments in the sources where she is close to the centre of the account, even though the report is remembered mainly for what it shows about him.