Al-Layth and Muslim (1) both transmit—through Abū al-Ṭāhir, from Ibn Wahb, from Yūnus, from al-Zuhrī, from Abū Salamah—from Jābir, who said:
“We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at Marr al-Ẓahrān gathering kabāth, the dark berries of the arak tree (2). The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Choose the black ones, for they are the tastiest.’
“They asked, ‘Messenger of Allah, did you ever herd sheep?’
“He replied, ‘Yes; is there any prophet who did not shepherd them?’”
Al-Bayhaqī (3) relates—through al-Ḥākim, al-Aṣamm, Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār, Yūnus ibn Bukayr, Sinān ibn Ismāʿīl, and Abū al-Walīd Saʿīd ibn Mināʾ—that Saʿīd said:
“After the people of Muʾtah had completed their campaign and returned, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ordered them to march on to Mecca. When he reached Marr al-Ẓahrān he halted at the pass and sent gatherers to pick kabāth. I asked Saʿīd, ‘What is that?’ He replied, ‘The fruit of the arak tree.’
“Ibn Masʿūd went out with those who were gathering. Whenever one of them found a good berry he popped it into his own mouth. As Ibn Masʿūd climbed the tree they looked at his thin calves and laughed, whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Do you marvel at the slenderness of his legs? By Him in whose hand is my soul, they will weigh heavier on the Balance than Mount Uhud.’
“Whatever Ibn Masʿūd collected he would bring—selecting the finest—for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and on that occasion he recited:
‘This is the fruit I gathered; its choicest is for you—
while every other gatherer keeps his hand to his own mouth.’” (4)
In the two Ṣaḥīḥs (5) it is reported from Anas: “We flushed out a hare while at Marr al-Ẓahrān (6). The people chased it but became exhausted; I caught it, brought it to Abū Ṭalḥah, and he slaughtered it. He then sent its shoulder—or its hind-leg—to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he accepted it.”
Ibn Isḥāq (7) adds: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ encamped at Marr al-Ẓahrān while all news had been cut off from Quraysh; no word about the Messenger of Allah ﷺ reached them, and they had no idea what he intended. During those nights Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb, Ḥakīm ibn Ḥizām, and Budayl ibn Warqāʾ went out searching for information, hoping to learn or hear some news.”
Ibn Lahīʿah, on the authority of Abū al-Aswad, from ʿUrwah (8), states that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a detachment of cavalry ahead of him who