Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Hazrat Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that I participated in a battle (the Battle of Tabuk) with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) came up to me from behind. I was riding a camel that carried water. Since it was tired, it was walking slowly. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked me, "Jabir! What has happened to your camel?" I replied, "It has become tired." Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went behind, prodded it, and prayed for it. After that, it kept walking ahead of the other camels. Then he asked, "What do you think about your camel now?" I said, "Now it is good; it has become so because of your blessing." He said, "Then will you sell it?" He narrated, "I felt embarrassed because we had no other camel to bring water except this one. But I said, 'Yes!'" He said, "Then sell it." So I sold that camel to him, and it was agreed that I would ride it until we reached Madinah. He narrated, "I said, 'O Messenger of Allah! My marriage is recent.' I sought permission from you (to go ahead to my home), so you granted me permission. Therefore, I reached Madinah before everyone else. When I met my maternal uncles, they asked me about the camel. I informed them of the transaction I had made, and they reproached me (saying, 'You had only one camel, and you sold it too; now how will you bring water?'). When I had sought permission from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he had asked me, 'Did you marry a virgin or a widow?' I replied, 'A widow.' Upon this, he said, 'Why not a virgin, so that she could play with you and you with her?' (Because Hazrat Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) was also unmarried at that time.) I said, 'O Messenger of Allah! My father has passed away, or (he said) he was martyred (in Uhud), and I have small sisters. So I did not think it appropriate to bring a girl like them, who could neither teach them manners nor look after them. That is why I married a widow so that she could look after them and teach them manners.' He narrated, 'Then when the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Madinah, I came to him in the morning on that same camel. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me the price of the camel and then returned the camel to me as well.'"