1487 — Ja‘far ibn Abdullah ibn Ya‘qub informed us; Muhammad ibn Harun al-Ruyani informed us. He said: Abu al-Rabi‘ narrated to us. He said: Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us, from ‘Asim, from Zirr, from Abdullah, who said:

I was an adolescent boy tending some sheep belonging to ‘Uqbah ibn Abi Mu‘ayt when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ passed by me, accompanied by Abu Bakr. He said, “Boy, do you have any milk?” I replied, “Yes, but I have been entrusted with these animals.” He said, “Bring me a ewe that has not been mounted by a ram.”

So I brought him a young female goat, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ restrained it by its leg. Then he began stroking its udder and supplicating until it gave milk. Abu Bakr brought him a bowl, and he milked into it. Then he said to Abu Bakr, “Drink,” and Abu Bakr drank. Then the Prophet ﷺ drank.

The Prophet ﷺ then said to the udder, “Contract,” and it contracted, returning to how it had been. Later, I came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, teach me some of this speech—or some of this Quran.” He stroked my head and said, “You are a boy who has been taught.” I learned seventy surahs from him, and no one disputed them with me.