Juʿshum, as mentioned above. They climbed the very mountain in which the two were hiding and began to pass right by the mouth of the cave; their feet were level with its entrance, yet they did not see them—Allah was guarding them. Imām Aḥmad relates (1): “ʿAffān narrated to us, Ḥammām narrated to us, Thābit informed us, from Anas ibn Mālik, that Abū Bakr told him:
I said to the Prophet ﷺ while we were in the cave, ‘If one of them merely looked down to his feet he would see us beneath his feet.’ He replied, ‘O Abū Bakr, what do you think of two whose third is Allah?’”
Al-Bukhārī and Muslim have also recorded this ḥadīth in their Ṣaḥīḥs (2) through the narration of Ḥammām.
Some historians of the Prophetic biography report that when Abū Bakr uttered those words, the Prophet ﷺ said:
“If they approach us from this side, we shall go out from that side.”
The Ṣiddīq looked and saw that the cave had opened on the opposite side, where the sea reached its edge and a boat lay moored. Such a thing is not impossible in view of Allah’s immense power, yet it has not come down to us with any isnād—strong or weak—so we do not affirm it on our own. Whatever possesses a sound or at least acceptable chain, we accept; Allah knows best.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār said (3): “Al-Faḍl ibn Sahl narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Tamīm narrated to us; Mūsā ibn Muṭayr al-Qurashī narrated to us, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, that Abū Bakr said to his son:
‘My son, should turmoil befall the people, go to the cave in which you saw me take refuge with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and remain there, for your provision will reach you in it morning and evening.’ ” (4)
Al-Bazzār added: “We know of no one who narrates this report except Khalaf ibn Tamīm.”
I say: Mūsā ibn Muṭayr is weak and abandoned; Yaḥyā ibn Maʿīn declared him a fabricator, so his ḥadīth is not accepted. Allah knows best.
Yūnus ibn Bukayr transmitted from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq that the Ṣiddīq versified their entry into the cave, their subsequent journey, and the incident of Suraqah. Among his lines are:
[al-Basīṭ]
The Prophet said—while I felt no distress; he calmed my heart—
as we sat in the pitch-black depths of the cave:
“Fear nothing, for Allah is the third of us;
He has undertaken to grant me manifest victory.” (5)
Abū Nuʿaym transmitted this poem, at great length, through the route of Ziyād from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, and he included with it another poem (6). Allah knows best.