and at still other moments he would take position behind him, or to his right, or to his left. The same report states that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grew foot-sore, the Truthful One, Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, carried him upon his shoulders. On entering the cave he stopped up all its crevices; one opening alone remained, so he sealed it with his heel. Serpents then began to bite him, and tears ran down his face, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.”

This version, however, contains elements that are odd and objectionable.

Al-Bayhaqī went on to say: “Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Ḥāfiẓ and Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿAmr narrated to us; Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Aṣamm narrated to us; ʿAbbās al-Dūrī narrated to us; Aswad ibn ʿĀmir Shadhān narrated to us; Isrāʾīl narrated from al-Aswad, from Jundub ibn ʿAbd Allah, who said: ‘Abū Bakr was with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the cave, and a stone struck his hand, so he recited:

You are but a finger that has bled—
whatever you have endured is in the path of Allah.’
”

Imām Aḥmad said: “ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us; Maʿmar informed us; ʿUthmān al-Jazarī told me that Miqsam, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, told him from Ibn ʿAbbās regarding the words of the Exalted:
‘And [remember] when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you…’ (al-Anfāl 8:30).

He said: ‘One night in Mecca a group held counsel. Some said, “When morning comes, bind him fast,” meaning the Prophet ﷺ; others said, “Rather, kill him,” and others said, “No, expel him.” Allah informed His Prophet ﷺ of their plan, so that very night ʿAlī slept in the Prophet’s bed while the Prophet ﷺ went out until he reached the cave. The idolaters spent the night guarding ʿAlī, thinking him to be the Prophet ﷺ. At daybreak they burst in upon him, and when they saw ʿAlī, Allah foiled their plot.

They asked, “Where is your companion?” He replied, “I do not know.” They then tracked the Prophet’s footprints, but when they reached the mountain the trail became confused for them. They climbed the mountain, passed by the cave, and saw a spider’s web spun across its entrance. They said, “Had anyone entered here, the spider would not have spun its web over the door.” The Prophet remained inside for three nights.’”

This chain of transmission is ḥasan (sound) and is among the best reports concerning the weaving of the spider’s web across the mouth of the cave—one of the ways by which Allah protected His Messenger ﷺ.

[Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Qāḍī said in his Musnad of Abū Bakr: “Bashshār al-Khaffāf narrated to us …”]