Ibn Isḥāq (1) said: They then made their way to the cave of Thawr—a mountain on the outskirts of Mecca—and entered it. Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq instructed his son ʿAbd Allāh to spend the daylight hours among Quraysh, listening to whatever was being said about them, and, when night fell, to bring them the day’s news. He likewise ordered his freedman ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah to pasture his sheep during the day and, at night, to drive them to the mouth of the cave so they might rest there. Thus ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Bakr would pass the day with Quraysh, overhearing their plots and their talk concerning the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abū Bakr. Come evening, he would go to the cave and report everything he had learned. Meanwhile, ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah grazed the flock among the other shepherds of Mecca; at dusk he would bring Abū Bakr’s sheep to the cave, and they would milk them and slaughter as needed. When ʿAbd Allāh left the cave at dawn to return to Mecca, ʿĀmir ibn Fuhayrah followed his tracks with the sheep, covering over his footprints. Al-Bukhārī will later cite a narration that corroborates this account.

Ibn Jurayj (2) has related—from certain transmitters—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out for the cave of Thawr ahead of al-Ṣiddīq, instructing ʿAlī to show Abū Bakr the route so that he might catch up with him; ʿAlī, it is said, overtook him midway. This report is exceedingly odd and contradicts the well-known account that the two left together. (3)

Ibn Isḥāq (4) also said: Asmāʾ bint Abī Bakr ﵂ used to bring them whatever food would suffice them each evening. Asmāʾ (5) related: “After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abū Bakr had departed, a group of Quraysh—among them Abū Jahl ibn Hishām—came to our house and stopped at Abū Bakr’s door. I went out to them. They asked, ‘Where is your father, daughter of Abū Bakr?’ I replied, ‘By Allah, I do not know where my father is.’ Abū Jahl—vile and foul as he was—raised his hand and struck my cheek so hard that my earring flew off, after which they left.”

Ibn Isḥāq (6) continued: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr narrated to me—from his father—from his grandmother Asmāʾ—that she said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ left and Abū Bakr left with him, Abū Bakr took all his wealth with him—five thousand, or perhaps six thousand, dirhams. Later, my grandfather Abū Quḥāfah, whose eyesight had failed, came in and said, ‘By Allah, I think he has taken his money as well as himself, leaving you with nothing!’ I replied, ‘No, grandfather, he has left us a great deal of good.’ I then gathered some stones, placed them in the recess where my father used to keep his money, and covered them with a cloth. Taking his hand, I said, ‘Grandfather, put your hand on this money.’ He laid his hand on it and said, ‘If he has left this for you, then he has done well; this should be enough for you.’ In truth, by Allah, he had left us nothing, but I wished to reassure the old man.”