ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related: Israʾīl told us, from al-Suddi, from Abū Saʿīd al-Azdi, who said: Zayd ibn Arqam narrated, “We set out on campaign with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, accompanied by some Bedouins. Whenever we neared water we would all hurry toward it, but the Bedouins were quicker. A Bedouin would get there ahead of his companions, fill the trough, place stones around it, and spread a leather covering over it until his people arrived. An Anṣārī came, loosened the rein of his camel so it could drink, but the Bedouin stopped him. The Anṣārī removed one of the stones, causing the water to drain away, whereupon the Bedouin picked up a piece of wood and struck the Anṣārī on the head, splitting it open.

“The Anṣārī went to ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy and informed him. Ibn Ubayy grew angry and said, ‘Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah until they disperse from around him’—meaning the Bedouins—and he added, ‘If we return to Madinah, the more honoured will surely expel the more abased from it.’

“I heard him say that, so I told my uncle. He went and reported it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, but Ibn Ubayy swore an oath denying it, and the Messenger of Allah believed him and declared me untruthful. My uncle came back and said, ‘What have you done? You have only earned the Messenger of Allah’s displeasure and caused the Muslims to call you a liar!’ Never had grief descended upon me as it did then.

“While I was walking with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, my head drooping from sorrow, he came up to me, tweaked my ear, and smiled in my face. By Allah, I would not trade that moment for everlasting life or for the whole world. Then Abū Bakr caught up with me and asked, ‘What did the Messenger of Allah say to you?’ I replied, ‘He said nothing.’ He said, ‘Then rejoice!’

“When morning came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn until he reached the words: ‘…the more abased’ (63:8).

Israʾīl also transmitted from Abū Isḥāq, from Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: “I heard ʿAbdullāh ibn Ubayy tell his companions, ‘Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah until they disperse from around him,’ and, ‘If we return to Madinah, the more honoured will surely expel the more abased from it.’ I reported this to my uncle, who in turn reported it to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They swore that they had not said it, and he believed them and labelled me a liar, which filled me with anxiety. Then Allah—exalted be He—revealed: ‘When the hypocrites come to you…’ (63:1).”