As for the report recorded by Imām Aḥmad (1): “Abū Muʿāwiyah narrated to us; Hishām ibn ʿUrwah narrated to us, from his father, from Zaynab bint Abī Salamah, from Umm Salamah, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ instructed her to join him for the dawn prayer on the Day of Sacrifice in Mecca.” This chain, as you can see, satisfies the conditions adopted by the two Ṣaḥīḥs, yet none of the compilers included it with this wording through this route. It is very likely that the phrase “the Day of Sacrifice” is a slip—either by the transmitter or the copyist—and that what is meant is “the Day of Departure (yawm al-nafr).” This is supported by the narration we quoted from al-Bukhārī; and Allah knows best.

The point here is that once he ﷺ had concluded the dawn prayer, he circumambulated the House seven times, then stood at the Multazam—between the corner that houses the Black Stone and the door of the Kaʿbah—supplicated Allah ﷿, and pressed his cheek (2) against the wall of the Kaʿbah.

Ath-Thawrī said: al-Muthannā ibn aṣ-Ṣabbāḥ narrated from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: “I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ press his face (3) and chest against the Multazam.” Al-Muthannā is weak.

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He ﷺ then departed from the lower side of Mecca, just as ʿĀʾishah said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Mecca from its upper side and left from its lower side.” The two Shaykhs recorded it (4).

Ibn ʿUmar said: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered by the upper mountain pass that lies in al-Baṭḥāʾ and exited by the lower pass.” Al-Bukhārī (6) and Muslim (7) transmitted it. In another wording: “He entered through Kadā’ and left through Kudā” (8).

Imām Aḥmad (9) also said: “Muḥammad ibn Faḍl narrated to us; Ajlaḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh narrated to us, from Abū’z-Zubayr, from Jābir, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ left Mecca at sunset and did not pray until he reached Sarif, which is nine miles from Mecca.’” This report is very unusual; Ajlaḥ is of questionable reliability, and it is probable that this occurred on an occasion other than the Farewell Pilgrimage, for—may blessings be upon him