It is narrated from Sayyiduna Rabi’ah Aslami (may Allah be pleased with him), who says: I used to serve the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me:“Rabi’ah! Why don’t you get married?”I replied:“O Messenger of Allah! I do not wish to marry, I am not able to fulfill the needs of a wife, and I do not want anything to distract (and make me heedless) from you.”He did not say anything further to me about this. Then, as long as Allah willed, I continued to serve him. After a long time, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) once again said to me:“Rabi’ah! Why don’t you get married?”I replied:“O Messenger of Allah! I do not wish to marry, nor am I able to fulfill the needs of a wife, and I do not like anything to distract (or make me heedless) from you.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say anything further to me. After that, I thought in my heart that the Messenger of Allah knows best what is good for me in this world and the Hereafter. By Allah! If now the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commands me regarding marriage, I will say: O Messenger of Allah, it is fine, command me as you wish. Once again, he said to me:“Rabi’ah! Why don’t you get married?”I replied:“Yes, it is fine, command me as you wish.”He mentioned the name of an Ansari tribe and said:“Go to them, they used to come to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) from time to time. Go and say to them: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has sent me to you, and he commands you to marry such-and-such woman from your family to me.”So I went to them and said:“The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has sent me to you and commanded that you marry such-and-such woman to me.”They said:“Welcome to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his representative! By Allah, the person sent by the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) will return after fulfilling his need.”So they married me and treated me very well. They did not even ask me for proof as to whether the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had really sent me. I returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) feeling sad. He asked:“Rabi’ah! What is the matter?”I replied:“O Messenger of Allah! I went to very noble people, they welcomed me and treated me kindly, and they did not even ask for proof as to whether you had sent me. Now the issue is that I am not in a position to pay the dowry.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“O Buraydah Aslami! Collect gold for him equal to the price of five dirhams of silver.”So they collected that much gold for me. I took the gold they had collected for me and brought it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). He said:“Take this gold to them, that is, to your in-laws, and say to them: This is her dowry.”So I went to them and said:“This is her (i.e., my wife’s) dowry.”They were pleased with it and accepted it, and also said:“This is very pure.”Sayyiduna Rabi’ah (may Allah be pleased with him) says: Once again, I returned to you feeling sad. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked:“Rabi’ah! What is the matter? Why are you sad?”I replied:“O Messenger of Allah! I have not seen people more noble than them. Whatever I gave them, they were pleased with it and expressed happiness, and said: ‘This is much and pure.’ Now my condition is such that I am not even able to arrange a wedding feast (walimah).”He said:“O Buraydah! Arrange a goat for him.”So they collected enough money for me that I bought a big, fat, fresh ram. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me:“Go to Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyidah Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) and bring a large food vessel from her.”I went to her and conveyed to her what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had instructed me. She said:“Here is the vessel, it contains nine sa’ (about 22 kg) of barley. By Allah! We have nothing else to eat except this, take it.”So I took it and presented it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and also conveyed what Umm al-Mu’minin had said. He said:“Take this food to them (your in-laws) and say: This will be used for bread.”So I took the ram along with me, and my tribe’s people were also with me. I said to them:“This is for bread, and this ram is for cooking curry.”They said:“We will prepare the bread, and you prepare the ram.”I and some people from my tribe slaughtered the ram, skinned it, prepared the meat, and cooked it. We had bread and meat curry ready. I held the wedding feast (walimah) and also invited the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). After this, Sayyiduna Rabi’ah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) then granted me and Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) a piece of land. We received worldly wealth, and a dispute arose between me and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) over a date palm tree. I claimed that it was within my boundary, and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said that it was within his boundary. There was an argument between me and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and in anger, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) uttered a harsh word, which he himself did not like, and he regretted it. He said to me:“Rabi’ah! Say the same kind of words to me, so that the retaliation is complete.”I said:“I will not do so.”Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“You must say such words to me, otherwise I will complain to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about this.”I said:“I cannot do such a thing, that is, I cannot say such words to you.”Rabi’ah (may Allah be pleased with him) says that Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) left that disputed place and went towards the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I also followed him. Some people from my tribe, Banu Aslam, also came and said to me:“May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), what will he complain to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) about you? Whereas the harsh and unpleasant words were uttered by him himself.”I said to them:“Do you know who he is? He is Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), he is the second of the two (i.e., when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) migrated, he was the other person with the Messenger of Allah in the cave). Among all the Muslims, he is the most honored and respected. Beware! Be careful that he does not turn and see you coming to help me against him. If he sees you, he will be displeased. If he goes to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in anger, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) will also be displeased, and as a result of both of their displeasure, Allah Almighty will also be displeased, and Rabi’ah will be ruined.”They said:“Then what do you command us?”He said:“You go back.”So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and I also followed him alone. He went and told the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) the whole matter. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) raised his head towards me and asked:“Rabi’ah! What happened between you and Abu Bakr?”I replied:“O Messenger of Allah! This is what happened. He said such words to me which he himself did not like, and he asked me to say the same kind of words to him so that retaliation would be complete. But I refused to say such words.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Very good, do not say such words, rather say: ‘Abu Bakr! May Allah forgive you.’”So I said:“O Abu Bakr! May Allah forgive you.”Hasan narrated that after this, Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) went away weeping.

Naeem bin Mujmir narrates that it is reported from Sayyiduna Rabee’ah bin Ka’b (may Allah be pleased with him), he says: I used to serve the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and would fulfill all your needs throughout the day, until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would perform the ‘Isha prayer. After the ‘Isha prayer, when you would go to your house, I would sit at your door. I would think that perhaps the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) might need something. I would keep listening to your voice for quite a long time as you would keep uttering the words:“Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah, Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi,”until I would get tired and return, or sleep would overcome me and I would fall asleep. Since I was always ready to serve you and would serve you well, one day you (peace and blessings be upon him) said to me:“O Rabee’ah! Ask me for something, I will give it to you.”I said:“O Messenger of Allah! I will think and then present my request.”I pondered a lot in my heart, and it occurred to me that the world is a thing that will come to an end, and I have enough worldly sustenance, and more will keep coming. I thought that I should ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for something regarding the Hereafter, because your status with Allah Almighty is very high. So I presented myself in your service, and you (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Rabee’ah! Tell me, what have you thought?”I said:“O Messenger of Allah! I have thought about it. I request you to intercede for me with my Lord, the Exalted, that He frees me from Hell.”You (peace and blessings be upon him) said:“Rabee’ah! Who told you to make this supplication?”I said:“By Allah, no one told me this, but when you said to me, ‘Ask me, I will give you,’ and your status with Allah is as it is, so I considered all my matters and remembered that the world is a thing that will come to an end, and I have a lot of worldly sustenance, and more will keep coming. So I thought that I should ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) for something regarding the Hereafter.”The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) remained silent for quite a while, then said to me:“Alright, I will do this, but help me by making many prostrations.”