“At the Battle of Badr, every three of us shared one camel. ‘Ali and Abu Lubabah were the Messenger of Allah’s two riding companions. Whenever it was the Prophet’s turn to ride, they would say, ‘Ride, O Messenger of Allah, while we walk for you.’ He would reply with the words cited above.”

The wording is that of Ahmad in one version, al-Bazzar, and al-Hakim. Al-Hakim said: “Authentic according to Muslim’s criteria!” Al-Dhahabi made no comment on it, because he wrote: “...the hadith has already been mentioned.” Yet I have not seen it anywhere else.

The two Shaykhs only included reports from ‘Asim ibn Bahdalah alongside another narrator, as stated in al-Kashif and elsewhere. Al-Haythami said in Majma‘ al-Zawa’id (6/68–69): “It was narrated by Ahmad and al-Bazzar. Al-Bazzar worded it: ‘Whenever it was the Messenger of Allah’s turn, they would say: “Ride while we walk for you,”’ and the rest is similar. Its chain includes ‘Asim ibn Bahdalah, and his hadith is good.”

I say: He overlooked the fact that the wording he attributed to al-Bazzar is also found in one version of Ahmad’s narration, as we mentioned above.

2258 — “Since He sent down the Torah upon the earth, Allah has not destroyed any people, generation, nation, or inhabitants of a town by a punishment from heaven, except the inhabitants of the town who were transformed into apes. Have you not considered His saying, Exalted is He: ‘And We certainly gave Moses the Scripture after We had destroyed the former generations—an enlightenment for people, and guidance and mercy—so that they might take heed.’” (1)

It was recorded by al-Hakim (2/408), al-Bazzar (2248—al-Kashf), and al-Tha‘labi in his exegesis (3/41/2), through two routes from ‘Awf, from Abu Nadrah, from Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri, attributed to the Prophet.