By Allah, we shall never relinquish this pledge, nor shall it ever be wrested from us.
He (Jābir) said: So we rose to him and gave our allegiance; he accepted it from us, laid down its conditions, and in return promised us Paradise.
This narration was also transmitted by Imām Aḥmad—and by al-Bayhaqī through the route of Dāwūd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-ʿAṭṭār. Al-Bayhaqī, citing al-Ḥākim, added another chain that goes back to Yaḥyā ibn Salīm; both chains pass through ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym from Abū al-Zubayr, with wording to the same effect. The isnād meets Muslim’s criteria, yet he did not include it in his Ṣaḥīḥ.
Al-Bazzār said: Several narrators related it from Ibn Khuthaym, and we know of no narration from Jābir except through this route.
Imām Aḥmad also reported: Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd narrated to us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī l-Zinād narrated to us, from Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah, from Abū al-Zubayr, from Jābir, who said:
“Al-ʿAbbās was holding the hand of the Messenger of God ﷺ while the Messenger of God bound us to the covenant. When we had finished, the Messenger of God ﷺ said, ‘I have taken and I have given.’”
Al-Bazzār further stated: Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar narrated to us; Qabīṣah narrated to us; Sufyān—meaning al-Thawrī—narrated to us, from Jābir—meaning al-Juʿfī—and Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, from al-Shaʿbī, from Jābir—i.e., Ibn ʿAbd Allāh—who said:
“The Messenger of God ﷺ said to the chiefs (nuqabāʾ) of the Anṣār, ‘Will you shelter me and defend me?’ They replied, ‘Yes. And what is our reward?’ He said, ‘Paradise.’” Al-Bazzār then commented: We do not know this narration from Jābir except through this chain.
Ibn Isḥāq continued, transmitting from Maʿbad, from ʿAbd Allāh, from his father Kaʿb ibn Mālik, who said:
“We slept that night among our people in our encampments. When a third of the night had elapsed, we slipped out to keep our appointment with the Messenger of God ﷺ, stealing away like sand-grouse, unnoticed, until we met in the ravine at al-ʿAqabah. We were seventy-three men, and with us were two women from among our own.”