Ibn Isḥāq relates: Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb told me, on the authority of ʿAwf ibn Mālik al-Ashjaʿī, who said:

I was present on the expedition in which the Messenger of God ﷺ placed ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ in command—the campaign of Dhāt al-Salāsil. I travelled with Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. We passed by a group who had slaughtered a camel but were unable to cut it up, and I was a butcher by trade. I said to them, “Will you give me a tenth of it if I butcher it and distribute the meat among you?” They agreed, so I took a knife, carved it up on the spot, and took my share. I carried the portion back to my companions; we cooked it and ate.

Abū Bakr and ʿUmar asked, “ʿAwf, where did you get this meat?” When I told them, they said, “By God, you did not do well to feed us with it.” They then stood up and vomited everything they had eaten.

When the troops returned from the campaign, I was the first to reach the Messenger of God ﷺ. I entered while he was praying in his house and said, “Peace be upon you, O Messenger of God, and the mercy and blessings of God.”

He replied, “ʿAwf ibn Mālik?” I said, “Yes, may my father and mother be your ransom.”

He said, “The man with the camel?” and added nothing further.

This is how Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq narrated it from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb from ʿAwf ibn Mālik; the chain is broken—indeed, muʿḍal.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī remarks: Ibn Luhayʿah and Saʿīd ibn Abī Ayyūb also transmitted it from Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, from Rabīʿah ibn Laqīṭ, from Mālik ibn Hidhm—apparently from ʿAwf ibn Mālik—in a similar wording, except that it says: I offered the meat to ʿUmar, who asked me about it; when I informed him he said, “You have hastened your reward,” and he did not eat it. He narrated the same about Abū ʿUbaydah and made no mention of Abū Bakr, while the rest accords with what has preceded.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī also reports: Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥāfiẓ and Abū Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿAmr told us, saying: Abū al-ʿAbbās Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb al-Aṣamm narrated to us, Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib narrated to us, ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim narrated to us, Khalid al-Ḥaddāʾ narrated to us from Abū ʿUthmān al-Nahdī, who said:

I heard ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ say: The Messenger of God ﷺ appointed me commander of the expedition of Dhāt al-Salāsil, and among the troops were Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. I said to myself, “He would not place me over Abū Bakr and ʿUmar unless I hold a special station with him.”

So I went to him and sat before him and asked, “Messenger of God, who is the most beloved of people to you?” He replied, “ʿĀʾishah.”

I said, “I am not asking about your family.” He said, “Her father.”

I asked, “And then who?” He said, “ʿUmar.”

I kept asking, “And then who?” until he mentioned a number of men; then I said to myself, “I shall not ask about this again.”