ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār relates: Shaddād Abū ʿAmmār and Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr narrated to us, from Abū Umāmah—Shaddād had actually met Abū Umāmah—who said:
ʿAmr ibn ʿAbasah said: I arrived in Mecca and found the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Ḥirāʾ (1), concealing himself from his people. I approached him discreetly (2) until I entered upon him and asked, “What are you?”
He replied, “A prophet.”
I asked, “And what is a prophet?”
He said, “Allah has sent me.”
I said, “With what has He sent you?”
He answered, “With ṣilat al-arḥām (maintaining the bonds of kinship), kasr al-awthān (smashing idols), and that Allah be declared One.”
I asked, “Who is with you in this?”
He said, “A free man and a slave.”
The narrator adds: And with him were Abu Bakr and Bilal.
So I said, “I will follow you.”
He replied, “You cannot do that today. Do you not see my condition? When you hear that I have become manifest, then come to me.”
I therefore returned to my people and kept asking for news until he reached the people of Yathrib. Then I came to Medina, went to him … and he recounted the rest of the report (3).
(1) That is: they were enraged, filled with grief and distress; his affair had diminished their standing and exhausted their patience to the point that it left physical traces on them. The verb derives from hara al-shay’ yahrihu (to lessen, to reduce). Some transmit the word as jaraʾ, plural jariʾ, from jaraʾa (audacity, boldness). See Ibn al-Athir, al-Nihaya, s.v. “jaraʾ” and “hara.”
(2) The autograph has fa-atatalabb ("so I search"), whereas I have adopted the wording found in Sahih Muslim.
(3) The remainder of the report is found in Muslim, no. 832 (Book of the Prayer of Travellers, chapter “The Islam of Amr b. Abasa”): “I returned to my people, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had by then reached Medina while I was still with my family. I kept asking for news and questioning those who came from Medina, until a group of people from Yathrib visited me. I asked, ‘What has that man who has arrived in Medina done?’ They replied, ‘People are flocking to him in droves. His tribesmen tried to kill him but could not.’ So I went to Medina and entered upon him. I said, ‘Messenger of Allah, do you recognise me?’ He said, ‘Yes—you are the one who met me in Mecca, are you not?’ I replied, ‘Indeed. O Prophet of Allah, teach me what God has taught you and of which I am ignorant. Tell me about the prayer.’ He said, ‘Pray the dawn prayer, then refrain from praying until the sun rises and has ascended, for it rises between the two horns of Satan, and at that moment the unbelievers prostrate to it. Then pray, for the prayer at that time is witnessed and attended, until the shadow of a spear equals its length. Then stop praying, for it is then that Hell-fire is stoked. When the shadow lengthens again (i.e., after the sun’s decline), then pray, for the prayer is witnessed and attended, until you perform the afternoon prayer. Thereafter, refrain from praying until the sun sets, for it sets between the two horns of Satan, and at that moment the unbelievers prostrate to it.’”