chanting lines of the Arabs’ poetry while people trailed after him, listening to his voice, until he left by the upper pass of Mecca, reciting:

May God, Lord of mankind, grant the best reward
to the two companions who alighted at the tent of Umm Maʿbad.
They stopped in the open land and then went on their way;
blest is the one who became the companion of Muhammad.
Good fortune to Banū Kaʿb for the place their maiden left;
her seat is now a lookout for the believers.

She said, “From this we realized the direction the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had taken and that he was heading toward Medina.”

I (the author) have already set out the full account of Umm Maʿbad and his ﷺ physical description, as will appear, God willing.

Yahyā ibn Zakariyyā ibn Abī Zāʾidah related to us: Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā told us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aṣbahānī told us; he said: I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā narrate from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him):

“I set out with the Prophet ﷺ from Mecca until we reached a certain Arab clan. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ noticed a house that lay somewhat apart and made for it. When we dismounted, we found only a woman inside. She said, ‘O servants of Allah, I am merely a woman and have no one with me. If you want hospitality, go to the chief of the tribe.’ He did not answer her. It was nearly sunset.

“Her son then arrived, driving a few she-goats. She said to him, ‘My son, take this goat and this knife to those two men and say, “Slaughter her, eat, and give us some as well.”’ When he reached us the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Put the knife back and bring me a bowl.’ The boy replied, ‘She has been away from the buck; she has no milk.’ The Prophet said, ‘Go.’ So he went and returned with a bowl.

“The Prophet ﷺ passed his hand over her udder, then milked her until he filled the bowl and said, ‘Take it to your mother.’ She drank until she was satisfied, then the boy brought the bowl back. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Take this one and bring me another.’

“He did the same with that one, then gave Abū Bakr a drink, and he brought yet another—