1278 — Abū Ahmad Hārūn ibn Yūsuf also related to us. He said: Ibn Abī Umar related to us; ⦗1817⦘ Abd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Mamar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of Urwa, who said: Aisha said:

While we were sitting in our home at the height of midday, someone said to Abū Bakr, “Here comes the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with his head covered, at an hour when he never used to visit us.” Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “May my father and mother be his ransom! Something momentous must have brought him at this hour.”

Aisha continued: The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—came and requested permission to enter. Permission was granted, and he entered. Upon entering, the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to Abū Bakr, “Send out those who are with you.” Abū Bakr replied, “They are only your family. May my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah.” The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “Permission has now been granted to me to depart.” Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—asked, “May I accompany you—may my father be your ransom?” The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—replied, “Yes.” Abū Bakr said, “Then take one of these two mounts of mine, O Messenger of Allah—may my father be your ransom.” The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said, “At its price.”

She said: We prepared them in all haste and made journey provisions for them in a leather bag. Asmā bint Abī Bakr cut a strip from her waistband and tied the bag shut with it. For that reason, she became known as the Woman of the Two Waistbands.

The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and Abū Bakr then made their way to a cave in a mountain called Thawr, where they remained for three nights. Abdullāh ibn Abī Bakr, an intelligent and quick-witted young man, would spend the night with them. He would leave them ⦗1818⦘ in the last part of the night and be among Quraysh in Mecca by morning as though he had spent the night there. He heard of no plot being devised against the two men without committing it to memory, and then brought them news of it when darkness gathered.

Āmir ibn Fuhayra, Abū Bakr’s freedman, would graze a flock of milch sheep for them and bring it in to them after part of the night had passed. They would remain there, sustained by its milk, until Āmir ibn Fuhayra drove the flock away in the predawn darkness. He did this every night during those nights.

The Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—hired a man from Banū al-Du’il, specifically from Banū Abd ibn Adī, as a guide and expert pathfinder; an expert pathfinder is one highly skilled in guidance. He had entered into a pact with al-Ās ibn Wāil and still followed the religion of the unbelievers of Quraysh. They trusted him, handed him their two riding camels, and arranged for him to meet them at the cave of Thawr after three nights. On the morning following those three nights, he came to them with their mounts. They then mounted and set out, with Āmir ibn Fuhayra, Abū Bakr, and the guide travelling together. The guide led them along the Idhākhir route, which is the coastal road.

Muhammad ibn al-Husayn said: Al-Firyābī also related this hadith to us through more than one chain in the report of al-Zuhrī—may Allah have mercy on him—from Urwa—may Allah be pleased with him.