Mu'jam Kabir Tabarani 6572 — when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out

Sayyiduna Suraqah bin Malik bin Ju'shum (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out from Makkah, emigrating to Madinah, Quraysh announced that whoever brought him back to them would receive one hundred she-camels as a reward. Sayyiduna Suraqah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I was sitting in the gathering of my people when a man from among us came and said: "By Allah! I have just seen three riders who passed by me; I think it is Muhammad ((peace and blessings be upon him))." I signalled to him to keep quiet, and said: "They are only people of such-and-such tribe searching for a stray animal of theirs." He said: "Perhaps so," then fell silent. I stayed for a while, then got up and sent for my horse, and it was taken to the lower part of the valley. Then I brought out my weapons from behind my room, then took the arrows with which I used to cast lots, then put on my armour, then took out my arrows and cast lots with them, and the outcome I disliked came out: that he would not be harmed. But I hoped to bring him back and take the hundred she-camels. So I rode off on their trail. While my horse was galloping with me, it stumbled and I fell off it. I took out my arrows and cast lots again, and again the arrow I disliked came out: that he would not be harmed. But I refused and insisted on pursuing them, and I mounted it. When the people became visible to me and I looked at them, my horse stumbled, its two forelegs sank into the ground and I fell. It pulled out its leg, and smoke rose up behind it. Then I was certain that I had been prevented from reaching them and that he, Muhammad ((peace and blessings be upon him)), would prevail. So I called out to them and said: "Wait for me. By Allah! I will not trouble you, nor will anything you dislike reach you from me." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Ask him what he wants." I said: "Write for me a document as a sign between me and you." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Abu Bakr! Write it." So he wrote it for me and threw it to me. I went back and kept silent, mentioning nothing of what had happened, until, when Allah granted His Messenger the conquest of Makkah and they had finished with the people of Hunayn, I set out towards the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and the document he (peace and blessings be upon him) had written for me was with me. As I was heading towards him (peace and blessings be upon him), I found myself in the midst of a battalion of the Ansar, and they began pushing me with their spears, saying: "Get back, get back!" until, when I came close to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who was riding his she-camel, I was looking at his (peace and blessings be upon him) shins in the stirrup as though they were the heart of a palm trunk. I held out my hand with the document and said: "O Messenger of Allah! This is your document." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Today is a day of keeping promises and of goodness. Come near." So I accepted Islam. Then I remembered something I wanted to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and whatever came to my mind I asked: "O Messenger of Allah! A stray animal comes to our troughs which I have filled for my camels; will I have any reward for giving it water?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Yes, there is a reward in giving water to every creature with a thirsting liver." Then I went back and sent my zakah animals to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).