packed a provisions bag. Asmāʾ bint Abū Bakr tore off a strip from her waistband and tied the mouth of the bag with it; for that reason she was called “the Woman of the Two Waistbands.”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abū Bakr then made their way to a cave in a mountain known as Thawr, where they stayed three nights. ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr—a sharp and quick-witted youth—would spend the night with them. Before dawn he would set out, reappear among Quraysh in Mecca at daybreak as though he had slept in the city, listen to every plot they were hatching, and, when darkness fell, bring the two of them whatever news he had gathered.
ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah, Abū Bakr’s freedman, grazed a few of their goats near the cave. After night had passed for an hour he would drive the animals over, so they could sleep while taking fresh milk from them, and at the first glimmer of dawn he would call the flock away. He did this each of the three nights.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abū Bakr also hired a man from Banū ad-Dil—a seasoned tracker who had a pact with the clan of al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil and was still upon his old religion—to serve as their guide. They entrusted their two mounts to him and arranged to meet at the Cave of Thawr. On the morning of the third day he brought the animals; they set out, accompanied by ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah and the Dili guide, who led them along the coastal route. Al-Bukhārī recorded this report.
ʿUmar (radiyallāhu ʿanhu) said: “By Allah, one night of Abū Bakr and one day of his are better than all of ʿUmar. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ left Mecca at night, fleeing from its people, and Abū Bakr followed him. He would walk sometimes ahead of him and sometimes behind him, guarding him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ walked that entire night until his feet became sore; when Abū Bakr saw this, he hoisted him onto his shoulders and carried him to the mouth of the cave. Inside the cave was a hole in which there were snakes. Fearing that something might come out and harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abū Bakr plugged it with his foot. The snakes and vipers began striking and biting him, and his tears flowed while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ kept saying, “Do not grieve…” (Qurʾān 9:40).