Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 1796

Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah al-Ansari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Once, during a journey, we were travelling with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Meanwhile the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to lean to one side on his mount (that is, he had fallen asleep). I held him up, and he woke. The narrator says: Then we kept travelling. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) again began leaning to one side from his mount, so I held him up and he woke. He said: Is that Abu Qatadah? I said: Yes. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: May Allah Almighty protect you as you have protected us tonight. Then he said: I think we are putting you to hardship; turn aside with us from the main road. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made his mount kneel, then each of us made his mount kneel, then each of us used the leg of his mount as a pillow (and we all fell asleep). We did not wake until the sun had risen bright. The narrator says: He mentioned the call of the shrike (surad). The narrator says: I said: O Messenger of Allah! We are ruined; our prayer has been missed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: You are not ruined, and your prayer has not been missed. The prayer is missed by one who is awake; it is not missed by one who is asleep. Is there any water? The narrator says: I brought him a vessel with water in it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ablution, then handed the vessel to me with some water left in it. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Take care of it, for something will soon come to light concerning it. Then he ordered Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him), and he called the adhan. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) performed ablution, then offered two rak'ahs; then he moved from that place, then he ordered him, and Sayyiduna Bilal called the iqamah for the prayer, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) offered the morning prayer. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: If the people obey Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Umar, they will be gentle with themselves and will do right; and if the people oppose the two of them, they will harm themselves. When Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) found the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) missing, they said to the people: Stay by the water until morning comes. The people did not listen to the two of them. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached these people in the last part of the day, by which time they were close to perishing from thirst. The people said: O Messenger of Allah! We are perishing. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) sent for the water vessel, which was a little larger than a cup and smaller than a large bowl. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began pouring water from this vessel and the people began drinking, until all of them had drunk. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called out loudly: Is there anyone else to take some? Then he returned the vessel, and it had as much water in it as before. The narrator says: We asked the Companion: How many of you were there? He told us: Including Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him), we were eighty men, and there were twelve men with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The author says: This narration is reported in the "Sahih" in abridged form.
Imam Ahmad recorded it, and its narrators are the narrators of the "Sahih".