Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) bought a saddle from (my father) Sayyiduna ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) for thirteen dirhams. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Sayyiduna ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him): Tell (your son) Bara’ to carry it and deliver it to my house. So Sayyiduna ‘Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said to him: This will not happen until you tell us what you and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did when you both left Makkah and the polytheists were searching for you. At that time, what did you and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) do? So Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: We set out from Makkah and traveled throughout the night until morning came and the day rose. I looked around to see if I could find a place with shade where we could go, and there was a rock there. I went towards it, and there was a little shade left. I cleared that place and then spread a bed for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Then I said: Please lie down, O Messenger of Allah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lay down. I looked around to see if any of the pursuers could be seen, and there I saw a shepherd bringing his sheep towards the rock. He too wanted to get from the rock what I wanted, i.e., shade. I asked him: O boy! Whose slave are you? The boy said: So-and-so. He mentioned the name of a man from the Quraysh whom I knew. I asked: Do your sheep have milk? He replied: Yes. I asked: Will you milk one for us? He said: Yes. I instructed him, and he separated one sheep from the flock. I told him to clean the dust from it, and then I told him to dust off his hands as well. So he did so, striking one hand against the other. Then he milked the sheep into a vessel. I had a vessel with me for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), with a cloth over its mouth. I poured water over the milk until the lower part became cool (i.e., the water mixed well with the milk). Then I went to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and I found him awake. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Please drink this. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) drank it. I said: O Messenger of Allah! Now it is time to depart. So we set out, and people were searching for us, but none of them reached us except Suraqah bin Malik, who reached us on his horse. I said: O Messenger of Allah! The pursuer has reached us. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I began to weep, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Do not fear. Indeed, Allah is with us. When he came close and there was only the distance of two or three spears between us and him, I said: O Messenger of Allah! The pursuer has reached us. I began to weep at this. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked: Why are you weeping? I said: By Allah! I am not weeping for myself, but I am weeping for your sake. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed against that man. He said: O Allah! Be sufficient for us against him as You will. Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: The horse of that man sank into the ground up to its belly, and he fell off it. Then he said: O Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), I know that this has happened because of your action. Pray to Allah for me to be saved from this situation. By Allah! I will mislead those who come after me searching for you. Here is my quiver; take an arrow from it. When you pass by my camels and sheep at such-and-such a place, take from them whatever you need. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We have no need of your camels. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed for him, and he returned to his companions. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) continued traveling until we reached Madinah at night. There was disagreement among the people as to where the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would stay. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Tonight I will stay with Banu Najjar, who are the maternal relatives of ‘Abdul Muttalib. I will honor them in this regard. When we arrived in Madinah, people came out into the streets, children were on the rooftops, and slaves were present. They were saying: Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) has arrived! The Messenger of Allah has arrived! When morning came, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set out and camped at the place where he was commanded to do so. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to pray facing Bayt al-Maqdis for about sixteen or seventeen months. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) wished that his direction be changed towards the Ka‘bah, so Allah revealed this verse:“We have certainly seen the turning of your face, [O Muhammad] , toward the heaven, and We will surely turn you to a qiblah with which you will be pleased. So turn your face toward al-Masjid al-Haram.”
The narrator says: Some foolish people among the Jews said:“What has turned them away from their qiblah which they used to face?”So Allah revealed this verse:“Say: To Allah belong the east and the west. He guides whom He wills to a straight path.”
The narrator states: A man prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and after praying, he left and passed by some Ansar who were in the bowing position during the ‘Asr prayer, facing Bayt al-Maqdis. He informed them that he bore witness that he had prayed with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had turned his face towards the Ka‘bah. So they 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 al-Dar bin Qays. We asked him: How is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)? He replied: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is in his place, and some of his companions are coming after me. Then after him, Sayyiduna ‘Amr bin Umm Maktum (may Allah be pleased with him), who was blind and belonged to Banu Fihr, came to us. We asked him: After you, how is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and his companions? He replied: They are coming after me. Then after them, Sayyiduna ‘Ammar bin Yasir, Sayyiduna Sa‘d bin Abi Waqqas, Sayyiduna ‘Abdullah bin Mas‘ud, and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with them) came to us. Then Sayyiduna ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to us with some riders. Then after them, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us, and with him was Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him).
Sayyiduna Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to us, I had already learned to recite twenty surahs from the mufassal surahs. Then we set out to intercept (Abu Sufyan’s) caravan, but we found that they had already escaped (i.e., this refers to the occasion of the Battle of Badr).