Saʿidah, and they said, “O Messenger of Allah, come and stay with us; we have numbers, weapons, and protection.”

He replied, “Let her go, for she is under command.”

They released her, and she moved on. When the she-camel drew level with the quarter of Banū al-Ḥārith ibn al-Khazraj, Saʿd ibn al-Rabīʿ, Khārijah ibn Zayd, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rawāḥah—together with a group of their clan—intercepted him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, come to us; we too have numbers, weapons, and protection.”

He said, “Let her go, for she is under command.”

So they let her be, and she continued until she passed the dwellings of ʿAdiyy ibn al-Najjār—his maternal uncles, for Salmā bint ʿAmr, the mother of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, was one of their women. There Sulayṭ ibn Qays and Abū Sulayṭ Usayrah ibn Khārijah, with some men of Banū ʿAdiyy ibn al-Najjār, met him and said, “O Messenger of Allah, come to your uncles; we have numbers, weapons, and protection!”

He replied, “Let her go, for she is under command.”

They released her, and she proceeded until she reached the precinct of Banū Mālik ibn al-Najjār. There she knelt at the doorway of the mosque—may Allah exalt it—that stands on that spot today. In those days it was a drying yard for dates belonging to two orphan boys of Banū Mālik ibn al-Najjār, Sahl and Suhayl, the sons of ʿAmr, who were under the guardianship of Muʿādh ibn ʿAfrā.

I say: In al-Bukhārī’s narration, transmitted through al-Zuhrī from ʿUrwah, the boys are said to have been under the care of Asʿad ibn Zurārah—and Allah knows best.

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah relates that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed on his way by ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl while he was in his house. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ paused, waiting for him to invite him in—for at that time ʿAbd Allāh was regarded as the chief of the Khazraj—but ʿAbd Allāh said, “Look to those who have invited you; go down with them.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ later mentioned this to a number of the Anṣār, and Saʿd ibn ʿUbādah excused him, saying, “Allah has indeed favored us with you, O Messenger of Allah! We had been about to place a crown upon his head and make him our king.”

Mūsā ibn ʿUqbah also says: Before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ rode on from the home of Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, the Anṣār had gathered and walked around his she-camel. Each man would seize the reins from the other, eager to honor and exalt the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Whenever he passed a house of the Anṣār, its people would invite him in, and he would answer, “Let her be, for she is under command; I shall alight only where Allah causes me to alight.”

When at last she stopped at the house of Abū Ayyūb, she knelt at the door. The Prophet dismounted, entered Abū Ayyūb’s house, and remained there until he had built his mosque and his own quarters.