still mounted on al-Qaṣwāʾ,
[the Muslims surrounding him. He then entered Mecca through the pass that descends toward al-Ḥajūn, still riding al-Qaṣwāʾ]
while Ibn Rawāḥah held her lead-rope, chanting lines of rajaz poetry:

“Clear the way, O sons of the unbelievers, for his passage …”
—and so the poem continued.

In the two Ṣaḥīḥ collections it is related from Ibn ʿAbbās that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions arrived on the morning of the fourth—meaning the fourth of Dhū al-Qaʿdah in the seventh year. The idolaters said, “A delegation is coming to you worn down by the fever of Yathrib.” Thereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered them to jog (raml) during the first three circuits and to walk between the two corners, refraining from having them jog the full seven only out of concern for their strength.

Imām Aḥmad reported: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ narrated to us, Ismāʿīl—namely Ibn Zakariyyā—narrated to us, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, from Ibn ʿAbbās: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ halted at Marr al-Ẓahrān during his ʿumrah, news reached the Companions that Quraysh were saying, “They will straggle in, emaciated.” The Companions said, “If we were to slaughter some of our mounts, eat their meat, and drink their broth, we could enter tomorrow looking well-fed.” He replied, “Do not do that; rather, gather for me whatever provisions you have.” They gathered them, spread out leather mats, ate until satisfied, and each man filled his own bag. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ advanced until he entered the Mosque, while Quraysh sat by the Ḥijr. He placed his cloak beneath his armpit (exposing his right shoulder) and said, “Let the people see no weakness in you.” He touched the Corner, then jogged; when he disappeared behind the Yemeni Corner he walked until he reached the Black Stone. Quraysh remarked, “They are not content merely to walk—look how they bound like gazelles!” He did that for three circuits, and it became a Sunnah.

Abū al-Ṭufayl added: Ibn ʿAbbās informed me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did the same in the Farewell Pilgrimage. Aḥmad alone transmits this wording.

Abū Dāwūd said: Abū Salamah Mūsā told us; Ḥammād—meaning Ibn Salamah—reported to us; Abū ʿĀṣim al-Ghanawī informed us, from Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: I said to Ibn ʿAbbās, “Your people claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ jogged around the House and that this is Sunnah.” He replied, “They have spoken truly—and falsely.” I said, “How so?” He said, “They spoke truly, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ did jog; and falsely, for it is not a Sunnah. When Quraysh, at the time of al-Ḥudaybiyyah, said, ‘Leave Muḥammad and his Companions; they will die the death of vermin,’ and when they later agreed that he could return the following year and stay in Mecca three days, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived while the polytheists …"