20 – Ismaʿil ibn ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿUmar al-Harrani narrated to us; Saʿid ibn Baziʿ narrated to us; Muhammad ibn Ishaq narrated to me and said: A man from Greater Syria known as Abu Manzur narrated to me; he said: My uncle related to me, from ʿAmir al-Ram, the brother of al-Khadr—Abu Ahmad commented: “a clan of Muharib”—who said:

“I was in our territory when I saw standards and banners raised. I asked, ‘Who is that?’ They said, ‘The Messenger of Allah, ﷺ.’ I approached and found the Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, seated beneath a tree. A cloak had been spread for him, and his Companions were sitting around him.

“While we were in that state, a man arrived wearing a cloak and holding something wrapped in his hand. He said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, when I heard you were coming I set out. On the way I passed through a thicket of trees and heard the sounds of some chicks, so I took them and placed them in my cloak. Their mother came and circled over my head, so I uncovered the chicks for her and she settled with them. I then wrapped them all together, and here they are with me.’

“The Prophet said, ‘Put them down.’ So he set them on his cloak, but the mother would not leave them. The Messenger of Allah, ﷺ, then said, ‘Are you astonished at the mercy this mother shows her chicks? By Him Who sent me with the truth, Allah is far more merciful to His servants than this mother is to her chicks. Take them back and return them to the place from which you took them.’ So the man went and returned them.”