Ibn Lahīʿah transmitted—from Abū al-Aswad—from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr—who said:

After the Prophet ﷺ had performed the Pilgrimage in which the Anṣār pledged their allegiance to him, he remained in Mecca for the rest of Dhū al-Ḥijjah, then for Muḥarram and Ṣafar. The idolaters of Quraysh then united in their plot to kill the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, imprison him, or drive him out. Allah disclosed their scheme to him and revealed:

“Remember when those who disbelieved plotted against you to restrain you, or kill you, or expel you…” (al-Anfāl 8:30).

He therefore ordered ʿAlī to sleep in his bed, and he himself set out with Abū Bakr. When morning came, the Quraysh searched in every direction for the two of them.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah reports the same in his Maghāzī: that the Prophet’s departure with Abū Bakr for the cave took place at night. Ibn Hishām likewise cites al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī’s explicit statement to that effect.

Al-Bukhārī said (1): Yaḥyā ibn Bukayr related to us; al-Layth related to us; from ʿUqayl—who said: Ibn Shihāb informed me: ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr told me, from ʿĀʾishah, the Prophet’s wife, who said:

“I have never been aware of my parents except that they embraced the faith, nor did a day pass without the Messenger of Allah ﷺ visiting us twice, morning and evening. When the Muslims were persecuted, Abū Bakr set out as an emigrant toward Abyssinia. When he reached Bark al-Ghimād he encountered Ibn al-Dugunnah, the chief of al-Qārah. (She then mentioned how Ibn al-Dugunnah returned Abū Bakr to Mecca under his protection, as we have detailed when discussing the migration to Abyssinia) … until Abū Bakr said: ‘I return your guarantee to you, and I am content with the protection of Allah.’

“At that time the Prophet ﷺ was still in Mecca.

“The Prophet ﷺ then said to the Muslims, ‘I have been shown the land of your migration: it is a place of date-palms lying between two lava-fields.’ Those who could emigrate set out for Madinah, and some (2) of those who had previously emigrated to Abyssinia also returned and made for Madinah. Abū Bakr prepared himself to emigrate before the Prophet.

“But the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, ‘Wait, for I hope that permission will be granted to me.’ Abū Bakr said, ‘May my father and mother be ransomed for you—do you really expect that?’ He replied, ‘Yes.’ So Abū Bakr held himself back for the sake of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that he might accompany him. He fed two she-camels he owned with the leaves of the samur tree—known as al-khabat—for four months [others say six months] (3).

“Ibn Shihāb said: ʿUrwah reported that ʿĀʾishah said: One day, while we were sitting in Abū Bakr’s house during the sweltering midday heat, someone said to Abū Bakr, ‘Here is the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with his face covered, arriving at an hour when he never comes.’

“Abū Bakr said, ‘May my father and mother be sacrificed for him; by Allah, he has only come at this time because of an important matter.’

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived, asked permission to enter, and was admitted. He said, ‘Clear the room.’ Abū Bakr replied, ‘They are only your family, may my father be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah.’ The Prophet said, ‘Permission has been given me to depart.’

“Abū Bakr asked, ‘Companionship—may my father and mother be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah?’ The Prophet ﷺ answered, ‘Yes.’ Abū Bakr then said, ‘Take—may my father be your ransom—one of these two she-camels of mine.’ The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied, ‘At its price.’

ʿĀʾishah said: ‘We equipped the two mounts with the greatest haste and we prepared for them…’ (4)