Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 14165

Sayyiduna Jabir bin Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: We set out with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) on the Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa'. When we reached the stony ground of Waqim, a Bedouin woman came before us with her son. She came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! This is my son; Shaytan has overpowered him." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Bring him close to me." The woman brought him close to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Open his mouth." The woman opened his mouth, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) put his saliva into that boy's mouth. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O enemy of Allah! Be gone! I am the Messenger of Allah." He said this three times. Then he said: "O woman, take care of your son; now there is nothing on him, and the affliction that used to befall him before will not come back to him again." The narrator narrates: After that we camped at a place in the open desert where there was no tree. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him): "O Jabir! Go and find a place for us," meaning a place where one could relieve oneself. The narrator says: I went, and I did not find any such place; I saw only two trees which were far from each other, but if the two of them came together, they could serve as a screen. I came back to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! I have found two trees which are apart from each other; if the two of them were together, they could provide a screen for you." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Go to the two of them and say to them: The Messenger of Allah says to you that you both should come together!" I went out from there and said this to them, and the two of them came together, until they looked as if they had grown from one root. I came back again and told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) went and relieved himself, then he came back and said: "Go to the two of them and say to them that the Messenger of Allah says to you both that you should both go back to your places!" So the two of them went back. The narrator says: We camped in one of the valleys of Banu Muharib. A man from Banu Muharib, whose name was Ghawrath bin al-Harith, came before him, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had his sword hanging from his shoulder. He said: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Show me this sword of yours." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drew that sword and handed it to him. He brandished that sword and looked at it for a moment, then he came towards the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)! Who will save you from me?" The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Allah Almighty will save me from you." Then his hand began to tremble, until the sword fell from his hand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) took hold of that sword and said: "O Ghawrath! Who will save you from me?" He said: "May my father be sacrificed for you, there is no one." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah! Suffice us against Ghawrath and his people." The narrator narrates: Then, as we were coming back, a man from among the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came carrying a bird's nest in which there were chicks, and their mother and father were following that man; the two of them (the birds) came and settled on that man's hand. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) turned to those who were with him and said: "Are you not amazed at the behaviour of these two birds towards their chicks? By the One who sent me with the truth, Allah Almighty is more merciful to His servants than these birds are merciful to their chicks." The narrator narrates: Then, when we were coming back and reached the stony ground of Waqim, the same Bedouin woman who had brought her son came before us. She had a waterskin of milk and a goat, which she presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as a gift. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "How is your son? Has any of the affliction that used to befall him befallen him again?" The woman replied: "By the One who sent you with the truth, nothing of what used to befall him before has befallen him again." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) accepted the woman's gift. The narrator says: We were coming along, and when we reached the place of descent from al-Harrah, a camel came, hurrying along. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Do you know what this camel is saying?" The people said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This camel has come to me and is complaining to me against its master. It says that its master kept using it for tilling for several years (that is, kept using it to draw water), until, when it became mangy, weak and old, its master decided to slaughter it. O Jabir! Go to its owner and bring him." I said: "O Messenger of Allah! I do not know its owner." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "This camel will guide you." So that camel began walking quickly ahead of Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), until it stopped at the gathering of Banu Khatmah. I said: "Where is the owner of this camel?" The people said: "This is the camel of so-and-so son of so-and-so." I went to him and said: "Come to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)!" That man came out with me until he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Your camel has complained against you. It says that you kept using it for tilling for a long time, until, when it became old and weak, you decided to slaughter it." The man said: "By the One who sent you with the truth, it is so." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Sell it to me!" He said: "Very well, O Messenger of Allah!" Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) bought that camel from him and then let it loose among the trees to graze, until its hump rose up; and whenever a water-carrying camel of any of the Muhajirun or the Ansar fell ill, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would give this camel to him, and it remained like this for a long time. Muhammad bin Talhah narrates: The Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa' is also called the Expedition of Wonders. (Allamah al-Haythami says:) I say: Part of this report is mentioned in the Sahih.
Al-Tabarani recorded it in al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, and al-Bazzar recorded it in a greatly abridged form; its chain contains a narrator, Abd al-Hakim bin Sufyan, whom Ibn Abi Hatim mentioned, and no one has criticised him. The remaining narrators of this report are thiqat (trustworthy).