from me?’ His hand began to tremble until the sword slipped out of it. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, picked the sword up and asked, ‘O Ghawrath, who will protect you from me now?’ He answered, ‘No one.’

We then turned back, and on the way a man from the Prophet’s companions came carrying a bird’s nest that still held its chicks. The two parent birds followed, fluttering about and landing on the man’s hand. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, turned to those who were with him and said, ‘Are you amazed at this bird’s concern for its young?’

One version adds: ‘Your Lord is even more merciful to you than this bird is to its chicks.’

We continued our return journey. When we reached the stony tract of Ḥarrah Wāqim, the woman who had earlier brought her son approached us, carrying a skin of milk and a sheep, which she presented as a gift. He asked her, ‘How is your son? Has any of what used to afflict him returned?’

She replied, ‘No, by the One who sent you with the truth, nothing at all of what used to strike him has returned.’ He accepted her gift, and we moved on. As we were descending from the lava plain, a camel came trotting toward us. The Prophet said, ‘Do you know what this camel has just said?’

They answered, ‘Allah and His Messenger know best.’

He said, ‘This camel has come to lodge a complaint against its master.’