and ʿAbd al-Ṣamad—the ascetic—together with Muḥammad ibn Hāshim (1) al-ʿAbbāsī, Naṣr (2) ibn Abī al-Ḍawʾ, Zaynab bint Sulaymān, and several others. They said:
“Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Mubārak informed us; ʿAbd al-Awwal ibn ʿĪsā informed us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad informed us; ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad informed us; Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf informed us; Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us; Abū Nuʿaym narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ayman narrated to us; Ibn Abī Mulaykah narrated to me, from al-Qāsim, from ʿĀʾishah:
Whenever the Prophet ﷺ set out on a journey, he would cast lots among his wives. The lot fell to ʿĀʾishah and Ḥafṣah, and during the night he would walk beside ʿĀʾishah and speak with her.
Ḥafṣah then said, “Will you not ride my camel tonight while I ride yours, so that you can watch me and I can watch you?”
She agreed. Ḥafṣah therefore mounted ʿĀʾishah’s camel, and the Prophet ﷺ came to the camel that ʿĀʾishah usually rode, upon which Ḥafṣah was now seated, and he greeted her.
They continued on until they halted, and ʿĀʾishah realised what had taken place. When they dismounted she sat down with her legs amid the idhkhir (sweet rush grass) and said:
“O Lord, send upon me a scorpion or a snake to bite me—this is Your Messenger, and I cannot bring myself to say a word to him.”
Muslim (3) also recorded this report, through Isḥāq from Abū Nuʿaym, so by this alternative route (4) the isnād that reaches us is even higher.
Ziyād ibn Ayyūb said: Muṣʿab ibn Sallām narrated to us; Muḥammad ibn Sūqah narrated to us, from