to her people she said, “I have met the most powerful magician on earth—or else he is a prophet, just as they claim.” Through that woman Allah guided the entire settlement: she embraced Islam, and so did they. Agreed upon.

Hammad ibn Salamah and others narrated—through Thabit, from ʿAbdullah ibn Rabah—that Abu Qatadah said: “We were travelling with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he remarked, ‘If you do not reach the water, you will suffer thirst.’ The fastest riders hurried off in search of water, while I stayed close to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that night. His mount began to sway as he nodded off; he leaned, so I supported him and he straightened. He leaned again and I supported him again. Then he leaned a third time—almost toppling over—so I propped him up, and he awoke and asked, ‘Who is that?’ I replied, ‘Abu Qatadah.’ He said, ‘May Allah preserve you as you have preserved the Messenger of Allah.’

“He then said, ‘If only we could camp for a while,’ and he turned toward a tree, dismounted, and said, ‘Look—do you see anyone?’ I replied, ‘Here is one rider; here are two riders,’ until the number reached seven. He said, ‘Stand guard over our prayer.’ We all fell asleep, and nothing woke us except the heat of the sun. We rose; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mounted and rode on, and we accompanied him for a short distance before dismounting again. He asked, ‘Do you have any water?’ I replied, ‘Yes, a small water-skin with a little water in it.’ He said, ‘Bring it to me.’ He performed ablution, and a mouthful still remained in the container. He said, ‘Keep it safe, Abu Qatadah, for it will have a purpose.’

“Bilal then gave the call to prayer; the Prophet ﷺ prayed the two voluntary units before dawn, followed by the dawn prayer. He then mounted and we mounted. Some of us said to the others, ‘We were negligent about our prayer.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked, ‘What are you discussing? If it concerns your worldly affairs, that is your own business, but if it concerns your religion, bring it to me.’ We said, ‘We were negligent about our prayer.’ He replied, ‘There is no negligence while one is asleep; negligence exists only when one is awake. If that happens, then perform the prayer the next day at its proper time.’

“He then said, ‘Think well of the people.’ We said, ‘Yesterday you told us, “If you do not reach the water tomorrow you will suffer thirst,” yet the people have reached the water.’ He said, ‘The people rose this morning to find their Prophet missing,’ whereupon some of them said, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ…’