Majma al-Zawaid — Hadith 9910

Sayyiduna Hubaysh bin Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him), the Companion of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), narrates: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left Makkah to emigrate to Madinah. With him were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr's freed slave Amir bin Fuhayrah, and the man guiding the two of them on the way was Abdullah bin al-Uraiqit of the Layth tribe. They passed by the two tents of Umm Ma'bad al-Khuza'iyyah. She was a woman of strong, sturdy build who stayed in her tent; she gave travellers water and food. They asked Umm Ma'bad about buying meat and dates, but she did not have these things, because those people were stricken by drought. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) noticed a goat in the corner of the tent and asked: "O Umm Ma'bad, what is the matter with this goat?" She replied: "Hunger has left it behind the other goats." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Does it have any milk?" She said: "It is too weak for that." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Do you permit me to milk it?" She said: "May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, yes! If you find milk in it, then milk it." The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called for the goat, passed his blessed hand over its udder, mentioned the name of Allah Almighty, and supplicated to Allah Almighty concerning the goat. It spread its legs and became ready to give milk. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called for a vessel from which a large group could be given milk to drink. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) milked into it until it was full. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave that milk to Umm Ma'bad to drink until she was satisfied, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) gave his companions to drink until they were satisfied, and last of all the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank from it. Then he milked into the vessel a second time until it was full. He left that milk with the woman and departed; he had taken her pledge of allegiance and then departed from there. After a little while, her husband Abu Ma'bad came driving his weak goats, which were walking feebly, with little marrow in them. When Abu Ma'bad saw the milk, he was astonished and asked: "O Umm Ma'bad, where has this milk come from, when the goats are such that they cannot give milk, and besides there was no milk in the house?" She replied: "No, by Allah! A blessed man passed by us whose condition was such and such." Her husband said: "O Umm Ma'bad, describe his appearance to me!" Umm Ma'bad replied: "I saw a man with a radiant, shining face and a handsome appearance. Thinness did not mar him, nor was he afflicted with heaviness. He was comely and graceful; his eyes were black and the hair of his eyelashes was long; his voice was soft and his neck somewhat long; his beard was thick and his eyebrows long. When he was silent, he seemed dignified, and when he spoke, he seemed distinguished, and radiance overwhelmed him. Seen from afar he looked the most beautiful and radiant of people, and seen from near the sweetest and most handsome. His speech was sweet and clear, with no deficiency or idle talk in it; his speech was like falling pearls. He was of medium height, not lanky at all, nor would the eye (of the onlooker) consider him lesser because of shortness; he was of medium height. Of the three persons, he was the most handsome and the most esteemed. His companions were with him; if he said something, those companions listened silently to his words, and if he gave an order, the companions acted on it immediately. He was a man of eminent standing, mighty; he was not one who let his hair fall over his forehead, nor was he senile." Abu Ma'bad said: "By Allah, he seems to be that very man of Quraysh who has been mentioned to us and who was being talked about in Makkah. I have resolved to go to him, and if I get the chance to get there, I will certainly do so." (The narrator says:) Meanwhile, a loud voice was heard in Makkah; people heard the voice but could not see the one speaking. He was saying: "May Allah, the Lord of the people, give the best reward to the two (travelling) companions who halted at the tent of Umm Ma'bad. The two of them stayed with that woman bringing guidance, and that woman embraced guidance. Indeed, the one who accompanied Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has succeeded. And it is a pity that Allah Almighty folded it away (or took it) from you, such that nothing else can replace it, and separated leadership from you. So Banu Ka'b should congratulate their (family's) woman, whose dwelling proved a refuge for the believers. (O Banu Ka'b!) Ask your sister about her goat and her vessel, and if you ask the goat, it too will bear witness to this. They had her bring a goat that was not fit to give milk, and then that goat gave as much milk as a sound, healthy goat gives. Then, when they departed from that woman's home, they also left milk with the woman for the one who milks (that is, the woman's husband), the one who takes those goats to the watering place and brings them back." When Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) heard these verses, he composed these verses in reply to the unseen caller: "That people has been disgraced from whom their Prophet departed, and that people has been purified to whom that Prophet went. That Prophet left one people, and that people's minds went astray, and the people to whom that Prophet went, light came to them. Their Lord guided those people through him and directed them aright; whoever follows the truth shows good sense. Can the misguided of a people, who adopted blindness and foolishness, be equal to those who are guided? That guidance left those people and halted among the people of Yathrib, and those people became the most fortunate. That Prophet sees what those around him do not see, and he recites the Book of Allah in every mosque. If he ever says something about something absent, its confirmation appears that same day, or the next day by the time the day has risen. Congratulations to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) on this good fortune, that he accompanied the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); fortunate is only the one whom Allah Almighty grants good fortune. And congratulations to the sons of Ka'b on that woman's dwelling, whose home proved a refuge for the believers." The narrator states: Mujahid narrated this to us from Mukram: In "fi ashfarihi watafun", (the word "watafun") means being long. And the correct word is "sahalun", that is, a voice being hoarse. Mukram told us that the narration has the words "la ya'su min tulin", whereas the correct words are "la yatashanna min tulin". He told us from Mukram: "la 'ayisun wa la mufnidun" means "la 'abisun wa la mukadhdhibun" (neither frowning nor a liar).
Al-Tabarani recorded it, and its chain contains a group of narrators whom I do not know. The hadith narrated from Sayyidah Umm Ma'bad (may Allah be pleased with her) has also been narrated by way of Sulayt, which I have mentioned in the chapter on the signs of prophethood, in (the chapter on) his blessed appearance.