Al-Bayhaqī likewise records the report through Abū ʿAwanah, from ʿĀṣim ibn Abī al-Najūd, from Zirr, from Ibn Masʿūd, in which he says:

“I brought him a yearling she-goat (1). He held her, ran his hand over her udder while supplicating, and Abū Bakr brought a bowl. He milked her into it, gave Abū Bakr to drink, and then drank himself. After that he said to the udder,

‘Draw back!’

and it drew back. I said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, teach me some of these words of yours.’ He passed his hand over my head and said,

‘You are a lad who has been taught.’

From him I learned seventy sūrahs that no one has ever disputed with me (2).”

Earlier, in the section on the Hijrah, we cited the ḥadīth of Umm Maʿbad and how he—ﷺ—milked her ewe, although it was scrawny and without milk; he and his Companions drank from it, and he left with her a large vessel full of milk until her husband returned.

Likewise, in the chapter dealing with those who served him (3)—other than his freedmen—ﷺ, we mentioned al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad: he drank the milk that had been brought for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then rose in the night intending to slaughter a sheep for him, only to find an abundance of milk; he milked enough to fill a very large vessel—the remainder of the report is well known.

Abū Dāwūd al-Ṭayālisī said: Zuhayr narrated to us, from Abū Isḥāq, from the daughter of Khabbāb, that she brought a sheep to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He took hold of it and milked it, then said,

“Bring me the largest container you have.”

They brought him the dough-trough, and he milked it until it was full, after which he said,

“Drink, you and your neighbors.” (4)

Al-Bayhaqī also said: Abū al-Ḥusayn ibn Bishrān in Baghdad informed us; Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad al-Ṣaffār informed us; Muḥammad ibn al-Faraj al-Azraq narrated to us; ʿIṣmah ibn Sulaymān al-Khazzāz narrated to us; Khalaf ibn Khalīfah narrated to us, from Abū Hāshim al-Rammānī, from Nāfiʿ—who had kept company with the Prophet—who said:

“We were with the Messenger of Allah on a journey, about four hundred of us. We halted at a place where there was no water, which weighed heavily on the Companions, and they said, ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ knows best.’

Then a small ewe with two horns came and stood before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He milked her, drank until he was satisfied, and gave his Companions to drink until they were satisfied. He then said,

‘Nāfiʿ, keep her for tonight, though I do not think you will manage to keep her.’

So I took her, drove a peg into the ground, and tied her with a rope. Later in the night I rose and found that the sheep had gone; the rope was lying on the ground. I went to the Messenger of Allah and informed him before he asked me, and he said,

‘Nāfiʿ, the One Who brought her has taken her away.’ ”

Al-Bayhaqī added: “Muḥammad ibn Saʿd also related it, from Khalaf ibn al-Walīd—Abū al-Walīd al-Azdī—from Khalaf ibn …”