Al-Jawāb as-Sahīh li-man baddala dīn al-Masīh - Ibn Taimiya - (6/197)

So I said, “O Abū al-Ḥārith, I am the freedman of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.” The lion lowered its head, nudged my side with its shoulder, and kept prodding me, guiding the way, until it set me upon the road. Once I was safely on the path, it let out a low rumble, and I assumed it was bidding me farewell.

Imam Aḥmad also transmits in his Musnad—on the authority of ʿĀʾishah—that she said:

“The family of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, kept a wild creature. Whenever the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, went out, it would grow lively, play, run forward and back; but when it sensed that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, had entered, it would crouch down and remain still, unwilling to disturb him in the slightest.”

Abū Nuʿaym likewise narrated this report.

فَقُلْتُ: يَا أَبَا الْحَارِثِ، أَنَا مَوْلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، فَطَأْطَأَ رَأْسَهُ، وَغَمَزَ بِمَنْكِبِهِ شِقِّي فَمَا زَالَ يَغْمِزُنِي وَيَهْدِينِي الطَّرِيقَ حَتَّى وَضَعَنِي عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ، فَلَمَّا وَضَعَنِي عَلَى الطَّرِيقِ هَمْهَمَ فَظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ يُوَدِّعُنِي. وَرَوَى الْإِمَامُ أَحْمَدُ فِي مُسْنَدِهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ قَالَتْ: «كَانَ لِآلِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَحْشٌ، إِذَا خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ اشْتَدَّ وَلَعِبَ وَأَقْبَلَ وَأَدْبَرَ، فَإِذَا أَحَسَّ بِرَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَدْ دَخَلَ، رَبَضَ، فَلَمْ يَتَرَمْرَمْ كَرَاهِيَةَ أَنْ يُؤْذِيَهُ» . وَرَوَاهُ أَبُو نُعَيْمٍ.