Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) bought a saddle from my father for thirteen dirhams. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him):“Instruct Bara’ to carry it and deliver it to my house.”So Sayyiduna ‘Azib said to him:“That will not happen until you tell us what happened to you when you and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) left Makkah and the polytheists were searching for you.”Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said:“We set out from Makkah. We traveled all night, until when the day broke, I looked to see if there was any shaded place where we could take shelter. There was a rock there. I went to it, and it had a little shade. I prepared the ground there and spread a bedding for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), then I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Lie down.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) lay down. Then I looked around to see if I could spot anyone searching for us. There I saw a shepherd coming towards the rock with his sheep. He too wanted to benefit from the shade of the rock as I did, that is, he wanted to come into the shade. I asked him: ‘Whose (servant or slave) are you?’ The young man said: ‘I am the slave of so-and-so.’ He mentioned the name of a man from Quraysh whom I knew. I asked: ‘Do your sheep have milk?’ He replied: ‘Yes!’ I said: ‘Will you milk one for me?’ He said: ‘Yes.’ I instructed him, so he took one of his sheep. I told him to clean the dust from its teats, then I told him to wipe his hands clean. Then the narrator demonstrated by striking one hand against the other. Then he milked a bowl of milk for me. I had brought a vessel with me for the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), with a cloth tied over its mouth. I poured (water) over the milk until the lower part became cool. I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and found that he had woken up. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! Please drink this.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) drank it. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! It is time to depart.’ Then we set out. People were searching for us, but none of them could reach us. Only Suraqah bin Malik, riding his horse, reached us. I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! A searcher has reached us.’ Then I began to weep. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Do not grieve. Indeed, Allah is with us.’ When he came close to us, and there was only the distance of two or three spears between us and him, I said: ‘O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! This searcher has come very close to us.’ I wept again. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) asked: ‘Why are you weeping?’ I said: ‘By Allah! I am not weeping for myself, but I am weeping for you.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed against him, saying: ‘O Allah! Deal with him as You will for us.’ The narrator says: The horse of that man sank into the ground up to its belly. The man dismounted and said: ‘O Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)! I know that this is your doing. Pray to Allah that He saves me from this calamity that has befallen me. By Allah! I will mislead those searching for you who are behind me. Here is my quiver; take an arrow from it. You will pass by my camels and sheep at such-and-such a place; take from them whatever you need.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘We have no need of your camels.’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed for him, so he returned to his companions, and the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) continued on until we reached Madinah at night. There was disagreement among the people about where the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would stay. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Tonight I will stay with Banu Najjar. They are the maternal relatives of ‘Abdul Muttalib. I will honor them in this regard.’

(Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates:) When we reached Madinah, the people came out into the streets. Children and servants were on the rooftops of the houses, saying: ‘Sayyiduna Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has arrived! The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has arrived!’ The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) continued walking until he camped at the place where he was commanded to. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prayed facing Bayt al-Maqdis for sixteen or perhaps seventeen months. He wished that his direction be changed towards the Ka‘bah. Allah revealed this verse:“We see the turning of your face towards the sky. We shall surely turn you to a Qiblah that will please you, so turn your face towards al-Masjid al-Haram.”The narrator says: Some foolish people (the narrator says: by this is meant the Jews) said: ‘What has turned them away from the Qiblah they used to face?’ So Allah revealed this verse:“Say: The East and the West belong to Allah. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.”

The narrator says: A man who had prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) passed by some Ansar who were in the bowing position during the ‘Asr prayer, facing Bayt al-Maqdis. He testified to them, saying: He had prayed behind the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and the Prophet’s direction had been changed towards the Ka‘bah. So they immediately turned around and faced the Ka‘bah. Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: The first of the Muhajirun to come to us was Sayyiduna Mus‘ab bin ‘Umayr (may Allah be pleased with him), who belonged to Banu ‘Abd ad-Dar. We asked him: ‘How is the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)?’ He replied: ‘The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is in his place, but his companions are following behind me.’ After him came Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin Umm Maktum, the blind man (may Allah be pleased with him), who belonged to Banu Fihr. We asked him: ‘How are the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his companions behind you?’ He replied: ‘They are following behind me.’ After that, Sayyiduna ‘Ammar bin Yasir (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him), and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us. Then Sayyiduna ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us, riding with twenty of his companions. After them, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came to us, accompanied by Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).

Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Before the arrival of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in Madinah, I had already learned the detailed Surahs. Then we set out to confront the (enemy’s) caravan, but we found them already on guard.