without diminishing their burdens in the slightest.” Reported by Muslim.
His phrase “mujtabī an-nimar” is spelled with a jīm, followed—after the alif—by a single bāʾ. An-nimar is the plural of nimrah, a striped woollen cloak; “mujtabīhā” means they were wearing such cloaks after cutting an opening at the top for their heads. The root al-jawb denotes “cutting.” Allah, Exalted is He, says, “and Thamūd, who carved the rocks in the valley” (al-Fajr 89:9), meaning they hewed and hollowed them out.
“Tamʿara,” written with an undotted ʿayn, means “changed (in colour).”
“I saw kumayn,” with the kāf vocalised either with fatḥ or ḍamma, refers to two heaps.
The wording “ka-annahu madhhābah,” with a dotted dhāl and the hāʾ and bāʾ both pronounced with fatḥ, is the reading endorsed by al-Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ and others. Some have misread it as “madhhanah,” with an undotted dāl and the hāʾ and nūn both given ḍamma; this is also how al-Humaydī vocalised it. The correct, well-known version is the first, and in either case the intended meaning is brightness and radiance.
[Commentary]
The author (may Allah have mercy on him), in the chapter entitled “Whoever initiates a good practice in Islam will receive its reward and the reward of those who act upon it,” cited the ḥadīth of Jarīr ibn ʿAbdullāh al-Bajalī (may Allah be pleased with him). This is a tremendous ḥadīth that lays bare the Prophet’s eagerness and compassion for his ummah—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him.
While they were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ early one morning, a group arrived, most—or indeed all—of whom were from the tribe of Muḍar. They were mujtabī an-nimar, their swords slung across their shoulders—that is, each man possessed nothing but a single cloak whose centre he had cut open to cover himself with.