5/601 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) also reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Among the best ways people can live is for a man to keep hold of his horse’s reins in Allah’s cause; he springs onto its back, and whenever he hears a cry or an alarm he rides off at speed, seeking to strike the enemy or to meet death where it is expected. Or it is for a man with a few sheep on the summit of one of these peaks, or in the bed of one of these valleys, who establishes the prayer, pays the zakah, and worships his Lord until certainty (death) comes to him; from such a man the people receive nothing but good.” Narrated by Muslim.

“yateer” means “he hastens,” “matnuhu” means “its back,” and “al-hayʿah” refers to the battle cry.

[Commentary]
These two hadith belong to the chapter that recommends withdrawing from people when one fears trial and temptation.
The first is the hadith of Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet ﷺ said, “Allah has not sent a single prophet except that he tended sheep,” meaning that every prophet whom Allah sent to His servants herded sheep. They asked, “Even you?” He replied, “Yes; I used to herd them for the people of Mecca for a few qirāṭs.” Thus even the Prophet ﷺ herded sheep.

The scholars explain that the wisdom behind this is to train a person to care for the creation and direct them toward what benefits them. A shepherd sometimes leads his flock to a lush, green valley, sometimes to a valley of another sort, sometimes to land that has neither, sometimes he refrains from grazing them at all, and sometimes he keeps them standing still. In the same way, the Prophet ﷺ would shepherd the ummah, guiding it to what is good with knowledge, insight, and clear direction;