2427 – ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar told us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad told us; Yaʿqūb ibn Shaybah reported to us; al-Khalīl ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Hubulī narrated to me; he said: Ẓafar ibn Ibrāhīm narrated to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Qays, from ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Judʿān, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, from Anas ibn Mālik:

When the night of the cave took place, Abū Bakr said, “Messenger of Allah, allow me to enter before you. If there is a snake”—or he said: “any danger or anything at all—let it befall me rather than you.” The Prophet ﷺ gave him permission, so he went in and began feeling his way around the cave with his hand. Whenever he came upon a hole, he tore a piece from his garment and stuffed it into the opening. When his entire garment had been used up, one hole still remained, so he plugged it with his heel. Then he said, “Enter ⦗1356⦘, Messenger of Allah.”

When dawn broke, the Prophet ﷺ asked, “Abū Bakr, what happened to your garment?” He told him what he had done, whereupon the Prophet raised his hands and prayed: “O Allah, place Abū Bakr with me in my rank in Paradise.” Allah then revealed to him: “I have answered your supplication.”