Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasā’ī have likewise transmitted this report through the narration of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Qaṭṭān—Abū Dāwūd adding (the corroboration of) Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal—while Ibn Mājah(1) records it with the chain of al-Layth ibn Saʿd. All three bring it by way of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī with the same wording.
Al-Bayhaqī(2) relates that the clan of Fazārah resolved to fight the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on his return from Khaybar and assembled for that purpose. He therefore sent them notice, appointing a specific rendez-vous for battle. When they became certain he was indeed coming, they fled in every direction and took every path away from him.
It has already been mentioned that once Ṣafiyyah’s waiting-period had expired, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ consummated the marriage with her at a place called Sadd al-Ṣaḥbāʾ on the road to Madinah. He prepared a wedding feast of ḥays, remained three days while the bridal tent was pitched for him, and she embraced Islam. He freed her and then married her, making her emancipation her dowry. She thus became one of the Mothers of the Believers, as the Companions understood when he drew a curtain over her while she was riding behind him, ﷺ.
Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq says in al-Sīrah(3): When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ consummated his marriage with Ṣafiyyah at Khaybar—or somewhere along the route—Umm Sulaym bint Milḥān, the mother of Anas ibn Mālik, was the one who beautified, groomed, and prepared her. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ spent the night with her in a small pavilion, while Abū Ayyūb kept vigil outside, his sword across him, guarding the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and circling the pavilion until dawn. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ noticed him he asked, “What is the matter, Abū Ayyūb?” He replied, “I feared for you because of this woman; her father, husband, and people were slain, and she is only recently removed from disbelief, so I feared she might harm you.” It is reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ then supplicated, “O Allah, protect Abū Ayyūb as he has kept watch over me.”
He (Ibn Isḥāq) then said: al-Zuhrī told me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, the story of how they overslept the dawn prayer on the return from Khaybar. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was the first to awaken and said, “What have you done to us, Bilāl?” Bilāl replied, “O Messenger of Allah, the same One who seized your soul seized mine.” He said, “You have spoken the truth,” then led his she-camel a short distance away, dismounted, performed ablution, and prayed it just as he would normally pray it.
Mālik has related the same account from al-Zuhrī, from Saʿīd, in mursal form.(4) From this chain, therefore, it is considered mursal.
Abū Dāwūd(5) also said: “Aḥmad ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us; Ibn Wahb narrated to us; Yūnus informed me, from Ibn Shihāb, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Abū Hurayrah: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was returning from the expedition of Khaybar, he travelled during the night. When drowsiness overtook us he halted for the night and said to Bilāl, ‘Stand guard for us through the night.’ Bilāl, however, was overcome by sleep while leaning against his mount, and…”