It was one thing to see the Prophet ﷺ hungry and in poverty; it was another thing to see him completely vulnerable and in pain.

If you lived in that society, he was your Superman.

When we talk about the death of the Prophet's ﷺ children, we usually mention that he buried six out of seven and group them all together.

Every single death hurt him deeply, but Ibrahim was different.

The circumstances of his life made his death uniquely devastating.

The Prophet ﷺ was 62 years old when Ibrahim was born, nearing the end of his life.

Ibrahim was born over 20 years after his last child.

Fatimah (RA) was the last child before Ibrahim, and by then, the Prophet ﷺ had already lost all five of his other children.

His two sons had died young, his three daughters had lived to adulthood, gotten married, and then he had buried them all.

Only Fatimah (RA) remained, now a married woman with her children.

Then Allah blessed the Prophet ﷺ with his first son in Islam, at this late stage of his life.

There was so much tied to this child.

Picture the joy of the Prophet ﷺ finally having a son with all the rituals of Islam available to him.

For the first time, he could perform the adhan in his own son's ears, do the tahnik (feed the baby a sweet) for his child after doing it for so many others, and perform the aqiqah for his son after doing it for so many other people's sons.

The Prophet ﷺ would carry Ibrahim with such happiness, telling people,

"Look, O people, Allah has blessed your prophet with a son, and I named him after my father, Ibrahim."

The Prophet ﷺ had a deep attachment to this child.

He visited him daily when Ibrahim was with his wet nurse, brought him to the masjid ﷺ, and took him when visiting his wives' homes.

He would bring him everywhere he could.

Then Anas ibn Malik (RA) tells us what happened.

Ibrahim was about 16 months old, not an infant anymore, but a child with personality, someone you could have a real connection with.

Word came:

"Ya Rasulillah, Ibrahim is very sick. It looks like he's about to die."

The Prophet ﷺ dropped everything and went with his companions to the home of the wet nurse.

The Prophet ﷺ asked permission to enter and took Ibrahim in his arms.

Anas (RA) says the Prophet ﷺ held him, kissed him, and started smelling his hair.

As he held him ﷺ, the companions just looked on.

This was the most human and vulnerable moment they would ever see their Prophet ﷺ.

Ibrahim's breathing became harder and slower.

Then, in the arms of the Messenger ﷺ, his soul left his body.

The Prophet ﷺ started to weep.

Abdur-Rahman ibn Awf (RA) looked at him and said,

"You too, O Messenger of Allah?"

He wasn't being cruel; it came from admiration and surprise.

"Ya Rasulillah, you cry too? We're not used to seeing you this way. We're not used to seeing the Prophet ﷺ break down like this."

The Prophet ﷺ, still holding his son who had just passed away in his hands, looked at him:

"O son of Awf, it's rahma, mercy that Allah puts in the heart.

Allah put this mercy in my heart.

I can't help myself. I love this child."

Anas (RA) said the Prophet ﷺ started to weep more, and they were all staring at him, crying with him.

Then came words that captured the perfect balance between human emotion and divine submission:

"The eyes shed tears, the heart feels sadness, but we don't say anything except that which is pleasing to Allah."

Even in his deepest grief, even in his most human moment, the Prophet ﷺ was teaching us that feeling pain doesn't contradict faith, it confirms our humanity.

The same heart that loved Allah completely was the heart that broke completely when his son died.

And both were exactly as they should be.