heavens his name is Ṣiddīq [truthful], and he is the companion and close friend of Muhammad صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم.’
This incident was narrated by Ṣiddīq Al-Akbar رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ himself in the blessed court of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم. When he had narrated this, Sayyidunā Jibrīl عَـلَيْـهِ الـسَّـلَام came to the court of the Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم and said, ‘Abū Bakr رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ spoke the truth and he is Ṣiddīq.’ Imām Aḥmad Qasṭalānī has mentioned this Ḥadīš in Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī. (Irshād-us-Sārī, Sharḥ Ṣaḥīḥ Bukhārī, Vol. 8, p. 370; Malfūẓāt A’lā Haḍrat, pp. 20-21)
The respected name of the first caliph, the Leader of the Believers, Sayyidunā Abū Bakr Ṣiddīq رَضِىَ اللهُ تَعَالٰی عَنْهُ is ‘Abdullāĥ. His Kunniyaĥ [patronymic appellation] is ‘Abū Bakr’ and his titles are Ṣiddīq and ‘Atīq.
سُـبْحٰـنَ الـلّٰــه عَزَّوَجَلَّ! The meaning of ‘Ṣiddīq’ is ‘One who speaks the truth’. He was referred to by this title even in the period of ignorance because he always spoke the truth. The meaning of ‘Atīq’ is ‘freed’. The Holy Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ تَعَالٰى عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم conveyed glad tidings to him saying:
اَنۡتَ عَتِيۡقٌ مِّنَ النَّارِ
You are freed from the fire of Hell.