Muslim then said:

Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah narrated to us; Wakīʿ narrated to us; from Saʿīd; from Qatādah; from Anas, who said:

“There was a sudden alarm in Madinah, so the Messenger of Allah ﷺ borrowed a horse belonging to Abū Ṭalḥah called ‘Mandūb.’ He mounted it and said, ‘We found nothing to fear, and indeed we discovered it to be like the sea.’” (1)

He (Anas) also said, “Whenever the fighting grew fierce, we would seek protection behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” (2)

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabiʿī related—from Ḥārithah ibn Muḍarrib—from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who said: “On the Day of Badr we shielded ourselves from the polytheists behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he was the bravest of all people.” Aḥmad and al-Bayhaqī transmitted this report (3).

We have already noted under the expedition of Hawāzin that, when the majority of his Companions fled, he remained steadfast, riding his mule while calling out his noble name and saying:
“I am the Prophet—no lie! … I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib,”
all the while spurring his mount into the very throats of the enemy. This represents the pinnacle of immense courage and perfect reliance upon Allah—may Allah’s blessings be upon him.

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, through the chain of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayyah, from ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, from Anas, it is related:

“When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Madinah, Abū Ṭalḥah took me by the hand and brought me to the Messenger of Allah, saying, ‘O Messenger of Allah, Anas is a sharp-witted lad; let him serve you.’ I served him on journeys and at home, and—by Allah!—he never once said to me about something I had done, ‘Why did you do that this way?’ nor about something I had neglected, ‘Why did you not do it this way?’” (4)

Muslim also reports—through Saʿīd ibn Abī Burdah, from Anas—who said:

“I served the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for nine years, and I do not know that he ever said to me, ‘Why did you do such-and-such?’ nor did he ever reproach me for anything at all.” (5)

And Muslim transmits—through ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār, from Isḥāq—that Anas said:

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was among the finest of people in character. One day he sent me on an errand. I said, ‘By Allah, I will not go,’ although inwardly I intended to fulfill what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had ordered. I went out and passed by some boys playing in the marketplace, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ grasped me from behind by the nape of my neck. I turned and saw him laughing, and he said, ‘O Unays! Did you go where I sent you?’ I replied, ‘Yes; I am going now.’”