Chapter: The Repentance Of Ka'b Ibn Malik And His Two Companions

This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Zuhri with the same chain of transmitters.

'Abdullah bin K'ab, who was his (Ka'b's) guide as he became blind, reported that he heard from Ka'b bin Malik the story of his staying behind Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) from the expedition of Tabuk. The rest of the hadith is the same (but with this variation) that in the narration transmitted on the authority of Yunus (the words are): When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) intended to set on any expedition he kept it as a secret, but he did not do so in this expedition. And in the narration transmitted on the authority of Muhammad bin 'Abdullah bin Muslim, there is no mention of Abu Khaithana (RA) and no mention of his meeting with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) .

It is reported on the authority of 'Abdullah bin K'ab and he was the guide of Ka'b as he lost his eyesight and he was the greatest scholar amongst his people and he retained in his mind many ahadith of the Companions of Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) . He said: I heard my father Ka'b bin Malik, and he was one of those three whose repentance was accepted (by Allah). He transmitted that he never lagged behind Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) from any expedition that he undertook except two expeditions; the rest of the hadith is the same, and in the tradition narrated through another chain of transmitters the words are: "That Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) set out on an expedition with a large number of persons more than ten thousand and this could not be recorded in the census register."