Abū ʿImrān al-Jawni related from Rabīʿah al-Aslamī—who used to serve the Prophet ﷺ—who said:

The Prophet ﷺ once said to me, “Rabīʿah, will you not marry?”

I answered, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not wish anything to distract me from serving you.” He kept silent.

Some time later he again said, “Rabīʿah, will you not marry?” I replied, “O Messenger of Allah, I do not want anything to divert me from your service, and I have nothing to give a woman.”

Afterwards I reflected: the Messenger of Allah knows my circumstances, yet he invites me to marry. If he calls me a third time, I will agree.

He then said, “Rabīʿah, will you not marry?” I said, “O Messenger of Allah, who would marry me? I have nothing to offer a wife.”

He told me, “Go to the clan of so-and-so and say to them, ‘The Messenger of Allah commands you to marry me to your daughter so-and-so.’”

I went to them and said, “The Messenger of Allah has sent me to you so that you may marry me to your daughter so-and-so.”

They asked, “That very girl?” I replied, “Yes.” They said, “Welcome to the Messenger of Allah and welcome to his messenger,” and they married her to me.

I returned to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I have come to you from the best of households. They believed me and married me. From where shall I obtain the bridal gift (ṣadāq)?”

The Prophet ﷺ said to Buraydah al-Aslamī, “Gather for Rabīʿah a bridal gift equal to the weight of a date-stone in gold.” They collected it, gave it to me, and I took it to them; they accepted it.

I came back to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, they have accepted, but from where shall I provide a wedding feast?”

He said to Buraydah, “Collect for Rabīʿah the price of a ram,” and they did so.

Then he told me, “Go to ʿĀʾishah and ask her to give you whatever barley she has.” I went to her, she gave it to me, and I left with the ram and the barley.

They said, “We will prepare the barley; as for the ram, tell your companions to slaughter it.” They cooked the barley, and, by Allah, the next morning we had bread and meat.

Later the Messenger of Allah allocated some land to Abū Bakr, and we disagreed over a date-palm cluster. I said, “It is on my land,” and Abū Bakr said, “It is on my land,” so we argued. Abū Bakr then uttered a word I disliked; he regretted it and called me, saying, “Say to me what I said to you.”

I replied, “By Allah, I will not say to you what you said to me.”

He said, “Then I will go to the Messenger of Allah.” He went, and I followed him. My people came after me, saying, “He spoke to you like that and yet he goes to complain to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ?”

I turned to them and said, “Do you know who this is? This is al-Ṣiddīq, the elder of the Muslims. Go back, lest he look back and see you, think you have come to help me against him, become angry, go to the Messenger of Allah, and Rabīʿah be ruined.”

Abū Bakr came before the Messenger of Allah and said, “I uttered a word to Rabīʿah that he disliked. I asked him to say the same to me, but he refused.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Rabīʿah, what is between you and al-Ṣiddīq?”

I replied, “O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I will not say to him what he said to me.”

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Do not say to him what he said to you. Rather say: ‘May Allah forgive you, O Abū Bakr.’”