Then al-Bayhaqī said:
Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī informed us; Abū al-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sulaymān al-Naḥḥās, the Qurʾān-reciter of Baghdad, informed us; ʿUmar ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ḥalabī narrated to us; Abū Khaythamah al-Maṣīṣī narrated to us; ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus narrated to us, from ʿAwf al-Aʿrābī, from Thumāmah, from Anas, who said:
The Prophet ﷺ passed by a quarter of Banū al-Najjār, where he found some young girls beating their hand-drums and chanting:
“We are the maidens of Banū al-Najjār—
how excellent a neighbor Muhammad is!”
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Allah knows that my heart loves you.”
Ibn Mājah also transmits this report through Hishām ibn ʿAmmār, from ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus, with the same wording.
In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, through the chain of Abū Maʿmar, ʿAbd al-Wārith, and ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Anas, it is related that the Prophet ﷺ saw women and children coming—Anas thought they were returning from a wedding—so the Prophet ﷺ stood up and said, “O Allah, you are among the dearest of people to me,” repeating it three times.
Imām Aḥmad reports: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad ibn ʿAbd al-Wārith told us; my father told me; ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Ṣuhayb told us; Anas ibn Mālik narrated:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ approached Madinah while riding, with Abū Bakr seated behind him. Abū Bakr was an older man whom people recognized, whereas the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was a young man whom they did not recognize. Whenever someone met them and asked Abū Bakr, “Abū Bakr, who is this man in front of you?” he would reply, “He is guiding me along the way.” The listener assumed he meant the physical road, but he was in fact speaking of the path of righteousness.
Abū Bakr turned and saw a horseman catching up with them. He said, “O Prophet of Allah, a rider is overtaking us.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ turned and prayed, “O Allah, cast him down!” The horse threw its rider at once, then stood there neighing. The man called out, “Command me, O Prophet of Allah, as you wish.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Stay where you are and do not let anyone else reach us.”
Anas continued: At the beginning of the day he had been striving against—