“…What are these, ʿĀʾishah?”
I answered, “Solomon’s horses— and they have wings.” Whereupon he laughed (1).
Al-Zuhri narrated—from ʿUrwah, from ʿĀʾishah—who said:
I once saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ standing at the door of my apartment while the Abyssinians were displaying their skill with spears in the mosque. He would draw his cloak round me so I could watch their performance, and he would remain standing for my sake until I was the one who decided to leave. So appreciate the nature of a young girl, newly of age, eager for amusement.
In the version transmitted by Maʿmar, from al-Zuhri:
I kept on watching until I was the one who turned away; so take into account the condition of a young girl, fresh in age, who is drawn to entertainment.
And in the wording of al-Awzaʿi, from al-Zuhri, concerning this same report, she said:
A delegation from Abyssinia came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and began performing in the mosque. I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ shielding me with his cloak while I watched them, until I was the one who grew tired (2).
(1) Ibn Saʿd transmits it with this exact wording in al-Tabaqat, 8/62, through al-Waqidi—Kharija b. ʿAbd Allah—Yazid b. Ruman—ʿUrwa—ʿAʾisha. A longer version is found in Abu Dawud, Sunan, no. 4932, Book of Manners, chapter: “Playing with dolls,” and in al-Nasaʾi, ʿAshrat al-Nisaʾ, 1/75, through Yahya b. Ayyub—ʿUmara b. Ghaziya—Muhammad b. Ibrahim—Abu Salama b. ʿAbd al-Rahman—ʿAʾisha, who said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ returned from the expedition of Tabuk—or of Khaybar. In a niche of my room there was a curtain. A gust of wind lifted one side of the curtain and revealed some doll-figures belonging to me. He asked, ‘What are these, ʿAʾisha?’ I replied, ‘My daughters.’ He noticed among them a horse with two wings made of cloth and said, ‘What is this I see in their midst?’ I answered, ‘A horse.’ He asked, ‘And what is on it?’ I said, ‘Two wings.’ He exclaimed, ‘A horse with two wings!’ I said, ‘Have you not heard that Solomon had horses with wings?’ At that he laughed until I could see his molar teeth.” Its chain of transmission is sound.
(2) Al-Bukhari records it, 1/457, Book of the Mosques: chapter “The spear-bearers in the mosque”; 2/366 and 370, Book of the Two ʿIds: chapter “Spears and shields on the day of ʿId”; and 9/294, Book of Marriage: chapter “A woman’s looking at the Abyssinians and the like without suspicion.” Muslim records it under no. 892 (sections 17–21). It is also in Ahmad, 6/84, 85, 166, 270; al-Nasaʾi, 3/195, Book of the Two ʿIds: chapter “Playing in the mosque on the day of ʿId and women’s watching it”; al-Humaydi, Musnad, no. 254; and al-Tahawi, Mushkil al-Athar, 1/116. Al-Nasaʾi further transmits it in ʿAshrat al-Nisaʾ, fol. 75a, through Yunus b. ʿAbd al-Aʿla—ʿAbd Allah b. Wahb—Bakr b. Mudarr—Ibn al-Had—Muhammad b. Ibrahim—Abu Salama b. ʿAbd al-Rahman—ʿAʾisha …