Abdur Rahman bin Malik, who is the nephew of Sayyiduna Suraqah bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him), narrates: His father informed him of this incident. He heard Sayyiduna Suraqah narrate: The messengers of the disbelievers of Quraysh came to us at Rasaa’. They had set a reward for anyone who would kill or capture the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayyiduna Suraqah narrates: I was sitting in a gathering of my tribe, Banu Mudlij. Meanwhile, a man came and stood before us. He said: O Suraqah, a short while ago I saw the silhouettes of some men heading towards the coast. I think they are Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his companion. Suraqah says: I also realized that it must be them. I said: Those people are not them; you must have seen so-and-so and so-and-so. They have passed by us. Then I stayed in that gathering for a little while, then I got up and went to my house. I told my slave girl to bring out my horse; it was behind a hillock. She had prepared it for me. I took my spear and left from the back of the house. I drew lines on the ground with it. I turned the upper part of the spear downwards until I reached my horse and mounted it. I kept riding my horse until I saw the silhouettes of those people. When I got close enough that my voice could reach them, my horse stumbled and I fell off. I reached for my bow and took out the arrows used for divination. I drew one of the arrows, and the result came out as something I did not like. I did not accept the decision of the divination and mounted my horse again, then spurred it on until I heard the recitation of the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Prophet (peace be upon him) was not looking around, but Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was looking around a lot. Both forelegs of my horse sank into the ground up to its knees, and I fell off. I scolded it and got up, but its legs did not come out of the ground. Then when it stood upright, at that moment a bright smoke appeared in the sky.

The narrator named Mu’ammar says: He asked the narrator named Abu Amr, what is meant by the word ‘Uthaan’ here? He remained silent for a while, then said: It means the smoke that is not caused by fire. Mu’ammar narrates: Zuhri has narrated in his version these words: I again drew an arrow for divination, and the result came out as something I did not like, which was that I should not harm those people. I called out to both of them with a guarantee of safety, so both of them stopped. I rode my horse and came to them. When I stopped short of reaching them (i.e., my horse was unable to go further), it occurred to me that the matter of the Prophet (peace be upon him) would soon prevail. I said: Your people have set a reward for you. I informed them about their situation and what people intended regarding them, and I offered them provisions and supplies for the journey, but they did not accept it and only said to me: Keep our matter hidden. I requested you to write a document for me in which the promise of reward was mentioned. The Prophet (peace be upon him) ordered Amir bin Fuhayrah, so he wrote it for me on a piece of white leather.