Yūnus, transmitting from Ibn Isḥāq, relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ alighted at the tent of Umm Maʿbad—her name was ʿĀtikah bint Khalaf ibn Maʿbad ibn Rabīʿah ibn Aṣram. They sought some hospitality, but she said, “By Allah, we have no food, no animal in milk, and no sheep save one that is dry.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked for that ewe, passed his hand over its udder, invoked Allah, and milked it into a large bowl until the froth rose. He then said, “Drink, Umm Maʿbad.” She replied, “You drink—you have more right to it.” He handed it back to her and she drank. He then called for another dry ewe, did the same, and drank the milk. A third was brought; he repeated the act and gave the milk to his guide. Then he treated a fourth ewe in the same way and gave the milk to ʿĀmir, after which they resumed their journey.
The Quraysh pursued the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until they reached Umm Maʿbad. They asked her, “Have you seen Muhammad? He is described as such-and-such.” After they had given his description, she replied, “I do not know whom you mean; a young man did stop by and milked the dry ewe for us.” “That is the one we are after,” they said.
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bazzār reports: Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar told us; Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad told us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUqbah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh told us, from his father, from his grandfather, from Jābir, who said: “When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Abū Bakr set out on the Hijrah and entered the cave, they found a hole inside. Fearing that something might emerge and harm the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Abū Bakr plugged it with his heel until morning. They remained in the cave three nights, then left and came to the encampments of Umm Maʿbad. Umm Maʿbad sent word to them: ‘I see faces of beauty, but my clan is better able than I to honor you.’ When evening came, she sent her young son with a knife and a ewe. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Put the knife back and bring us a faraq’—that is, a bowl. She replied that the ewe had neither milk nor offspring. He said, ‘Bring us the bowl.’ She brought it; he stroked the ewe’s back, whereupon it ruminated and its udder filled. He milked it until the bowl was full, drank, gave Abū Bakr to drink, and then sent more milk to Umm Maʿbad.”
Al-Bazzār adds: “We know of this report in these very words only through this chain. As for ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿUqbah, we know of no one who narrated from him other than Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad, though he is well known for his lineage.”
Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī likewise narrates, through Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyā ibn Abī Zāʾidah: “Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā told us; ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Asbahānī told us; I heard ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā relate from Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq: ‘I left Mecca with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. We came upon a tribe of the Arabs, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ noticed a solitary tent and headed toward it. When we entered, only a woman was inside. She said, “O servant of Allah, I am but a woman and …”’