A short while later they caught sight of a man riding one camel while leading another, calling out to them.
He asked, “Which of you is Abū al-Khaybarī?”
“I am,” the man replied.
He said, “Ḥātim appeared to me in a dream and told me that he had treated your companions to hospitality at the price of your camel. He ordered me to convey you on your way. Here is a camel—take it.”
With that, he handed the beast over to him.
Some accounts of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Judʿān
He is ʿAbd Allāh ibn Judʿān ibn ʿAmr ibn Kaʿb ibn Saʿd ibn Taym ibn Murrah, the chief of Banū Taym and a first cousin of the father of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah be pleased with him). In the pre-Islamic era he was counted among the most open-handed nobles who fed the hungry during years of hardship.
At the outset of his life he was poor and destitute, and a trouble-maker who committed many crimes, so much so that his people, clan, family, and tribe came to detest him—even his own father. One day he wandered through the ravines of Mecca, bewildered and forlorn, until he noticed a cleft in a mountain. Thinking it might contain something harmful, he approached it, hoping he might die there and be relieved of his misery. As he drew near, a serpent lunged at him again and again, and though he tried to dodge it he gained no respite—until he realised that the serpent was made of gold, its eyes two rubies. He broke it apart and took it, then entered the cave and found the tombs of men from the kings of Jurhum, among them al-Ḥārith ibn Muḍāḍ, whose disappearance had long been a mystery. At the head of each tomb lay a golden tablet recording the date of death and the length of reign, and around them were abundant jewels, pearls, gold, and silver. He took what he needed and left, marking the mouth of the cave before he departed.
Returning to his people, he bestowed gifts upon them until they loved him and acknowledged his leadership, and he set about feeding the populace. Whenever his funds dwindled he would revisit the cave, take what he required, and come back again.
Among those who recount this story is ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Hishām in his book Al-Tijān.