Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 3592 — Sayyiduna Hubaysh bin Khalid, a companion

Sayyiduna Hubaysh bin Khalid (may Allah be pleased with him), a companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), narrated that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) left Makkah and set out emigrating to Madinah, and with him (peace and blessings be upon him) were Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and Abu Bakr's freed slave Sayyiduna Amir bin Fuhayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), and their guide was the Laythi, Abdullah bin al-Urayqit, they passed by the two tents of Umm Ma'bad al-Khuza'iyyah. She was an open-faced, sturdy woman who used to sit at the entrance of the tent, and would then give people drink and food. They asked her for meat and dates to buy from her, but they found none of that with her, and the people were out of provisions and stricken by drought. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a goat at the side of the tent and asked: "O Umm Ma'bad! What about this goat?" She said: Weakness has kept it behind from the flock. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Does it have any milk?" She said: It is too weak for that. He (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: "Do you permit me to milk it?" She said: Yes, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you; if you see any milk in it, then milk it. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) called for it, wiped its udder with his hand, mentioned the name of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and supplicated for her concerning her goat. It stood still before him (peace and blessings be upon him) to be milked, its milk flowed and it began to chew the cud. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) called for a vessel large enough for a group, and milked into it abundantly until froth covered it. Then he gave her to drink until she was satisfied, then gave his companions to drink until they were satisfied, and he himself drank last of all. Then they were all content. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) milked into it a second time until the vessel was full, then left it with her, then took her pledge of allegiance, and they departed from her. Only a little while had passed when her husband, Abu Ma'bad, came driving some emaciated goats that were staggering from weakness, at forenoon, with little marrow in them. When Abu Ma'bad saw the milk, he was astonished and said: O Umm Ma'bad! Where did you get this milk from, when the goat is barren and without young, and there was no milking animal in the house? She said: No, by Allah, except that a blessed man passed by us whose state was such and such. He said: O Umm Ma'bad! Describe him to me. She said: I saw a man of evident beauty, with a radiant face and a fine build; no largeness of belly marred him, nor did smallness of head disfigure him. Handsome; the black of his eyes was intense, his eyelashes were long, there was resonance in his voice, his neck was tall, his beard was thick, his eyebrows were arched like a bow and joined. If he is silent, dignity covers him, and if he speaks, loftiness and splendour overcome him. The most beautiful of people and the most splendid from afar, and the sweetest and most handsome from near. Sweet in speech, clear, neither talking too much nor too little, as if his speech were a string of pearls falling one after another. Of medium height, not so tall as to be disliked, nor so short that the eye looks down on him. Like a branch between two branches, so he was the freshest of the three in appearance and the highest of them in rank. His companions surrounded him; if he says something, they fall silent at his word, and if he gives an order, they hasten to his order. Served, and surrounded (by his companions), neither stern-faced nor of little worth. Abu Ma'bad said: By Allah! This is that man of Quraysh whose affair was told to us in Makkah. I had resolved to become his companion, and I will certainly do so if I find a way to it.
Then a loud voice was heard in Makkah; the people heard the voice but did not recognise its owner. It was saying:
"May Allah, the Lord of mankind, grant the best of His rewards to the two companions who stopped at the tents of Umm Ma'bad.
They both stopped there with guidance, and she was guided by it; so indeed successful is the one who became the companion of Muhammad.
O people of Qusayy! What unmatched deeds and leadership Allah has turned away from you.
Congratulations to Banu Ka'b on the position of their daughter; now her seat is a watchful post for the believers.
Ask your sister about her goat and her vessel; if you ask the goat, it will bear witness.
He called for a barren goat, and it poured out for him pure, frothy milk that came from the goat's udder.
Then he left it with her as a pledge for the milker, and she keeps taking it between the pasture and the watering place."
When Sayyiduna Hassan bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) heard this, he composed these verses in reply to that caller:
"Indeed, that people has failed from whom their Prophet departed, and blessed is the one to whom he comes by night and by day.
He departed from a people whose minds had gone astray, and descended upon a people upon whom a new light came down.
Their Lord guided them through him after misguidance, and showed them the way; whoever follows the truth finds the way.
Can the misguided of a foolish people, whose ignorance they took for folly, be equal to the guide through whom every guided one is guided?
And indeed from him the mounts of guidance descended upon the people of Yathrib, descending upon them with good fortune.
A Prophet who sees what the people around him do not see, and recites the Book of Allah in every mosque.
And if one day he speaks of something unseen, its confirmation comes that same day or the next forenoon.
Congratulations to Abu Bakr on the good fortune of his lot, in his companionship; whomever Allah makes fortunate becomes fortunate.
Congratulations to Banu Ka'b on the position of their daughter; now her seat is a watchful post for the believers."
Musa bin Harun added in his narration that Mujahid bin Musa also narrated it to us from Mukram, and he said to us: "No thuhlah marred him, nor did saqalah disfigure him", whereas the correct words are "thajlah" and "sa'lah": thajlah means largeness of the belly, and sa'lah means smallness of the head; that is, the meaning is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had neither a large belly nor a small head. And Mukram said to us: "There was curvature in his eyelashes and resonance in his voice." And Mujahid said to us from Mukram: "There was length in his eyelashes, and huskiness in his voice." The correct words are "watf" (length) and "sahal" (huskiness). And Mukram said to us: "No deficiency on account of height", whereas the correct words are: "No ungainliness on account of height." And Mukram said to us: "Neither stern-faced nor transgressing", and Mujahid said to us from Mukram: "Neither stern-faced nor belied", that is: neither stern-faced nor regarded as a liar.