—and they felt that the vast earth itself had closed in on them. Their very souls were straitened; the land seemed unfamiliar, and the people seemed unfamiliar. They would come to the mosque and no one would speak to them; if they offered the greeting of peace, no one would return it; if someone passed by them, he would not greet them. The whole earth felt narrow indeed.

One morning, therefore, he was performing the dawn prayer at home, on his rooftop. He relates: “I heard a herald calling out from the direction of Sal‘—a well-known hill in Madinah—having climbed upon it and cried at the top of his voice, ‘O Kaʿb ibn Mālik, rejoice! O Kaʿb ibn Mālik, rejoice!’

“So I fell down in prostration, knowing that relief had come.” At the same time, a horseman set out from the mosque heading toward Kaʿb to give him the glad tidings, while others hurried to Hilāl ibn Umayyah and Murārah ibn al-Rabīʿ to tell them that Allah had accepted their repentance. Behold how the Muslims rejoiced with one another, each of them running and hurrying off in a different direction.

“The caller arrived, and the rider arrived as well, but the glad tidings belonged to the caller, for the voice travels faster than the horse. I gave him my two garments—the waist-wrap and the cloak—owning nothing else. I then borrowed two other garments from my family or neighbors, put them on, and gave my own two garments to the man who had brought me the news.

“He had been given everything I owned, for I possessed nothing beyond those two pieces of cloth. But by Allah, it was magnificent news—great tidings from Allah Most High—that He had revealed our pardon and granted us repentance.”

Kaʿb then came down and made his way to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the mosque. The Messenger—may Allah reward him on behalf of his community—had already informed the people, after the dawn prayer, that Allah had sent down His acceptance of their repentance.