Sahih al-Bukhari 4418

It is related from 'Abdullah ibn Ka'b ibn Malik, who was the one of Ka'b's sons who guided him when he went blind, who said, "I heard Ka'b ibn Malik relate his account of when he stayed behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the expedition to Tabuk. Ka'b said, 'I did not stay behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on any another expedition he made at all, except for the Tabuk expedition, although I did not go on the expedition to Badr. No one censured anyone for staying behind that, because the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out heading for the caravan of Quraysh until Allah Almighty brought them together with their enemy unexpectedly. I was present with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the night of 'Aqaba when we made a compact on Islam and I would not want to exchange that for having been present at Badr. even though Badr is more renowned than it among the people. "'Part of my account of when I stayed behind the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the expedition to Tabuk was that I had never been either stronger or wealthier than when I stayed behind him on this expedition. By Allah, before it I had never had two riding animals as I did have when that expedition took place. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, intended to go on an expedition, he would always indicate another destination until the expedition actually left. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made this one at a time of intense heat and there was a long journey in prospect and a waterless desert, and a great enemy to face. Therefore he made the whole thing quite clear to the Muslims so that they could make the necessary preparations for the expedition. He told them the direction in which he was intending to go. The Muslims with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were numerous and a recording book (meaning a register) was incapable of including all of them.' "Ka'b said, 'Anyone wanting to absent himself thought that his absence would go unnoticed as long as no revelation was sent down about him from Allah. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, made that expedition when the fruit was ripe and there was plentiful shade and I inclined towards it. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Muslims with him made preparations, and I would go out to make preparations with him as well, but then I would return without having accomplished anything, saying to myself, "I can do it any time I wish." I went on like this until the people were fully prepared, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, set out with the Muslims but I had still not completed any of my preparations. Then I began and again returned without accomplishing anything. I continued like this until they had gone on ahead and the expedition had left. I intended to set off and catch up with them, and I wish that I had done so, but that was not decreed for me. When I went out among the people after the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had left, it saddened me that the only people like me were either men suspected of hypocrisy or men whom Allah Almighty had excused on account of their being among the weak. "'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not mention me until he reached Tabuk. While he was sitting among the people at Tabuk, he said, "What has Ka'b ibn Malik done?" A man of the Banu Salima said, "O Messenger of Allah, he has been held back by his two cloaks and self-conceit.' Mu'adh ibn Jabal said to him, "What an evil thing to say! By Allah, Messenger of Allah, we only know good of him!" The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was silent.' "Ka'b ibn Malik said, 'When I heard that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was on his return journey from Tabuk, I became very upset and began to think up lies and to say, "How can I escape his anger tomorrow!" and I consulted everyone among my family capable of giving sound advice for help in respect of that. When it was said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was arriving, all falsehood left me as I knew that nothing which contained any falsehood would ever save me from him. I resolved to stick to the truth. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, arrived in the morning. Whenever he came back from a journey, he would first go to the mosque and pray two rak'ats in it and then he would sit to receive the people. When he did that, those who had stayed behind went to him making their excuses and swearing to them. There were about eighty men. He accepted what they declared and took their allegiance and asked forgiveness for them and entrusted their secrets to Allah. Then I came. When I greeted him, he smiled the smile of someone who is angry and then he said, "Come here." I walked up and then sat down in front of him. He said to me, "What kept you back? Had you not bought a mount?" I said, 'Yes. Messenger of Allah, by Allah, if I were sitting with anyone else in the world apart from you, I would think that I could escape his anger by making some excuse. I am gifted in argumentation, but, by Allah, I know that if I were to tell you a false story today which might satisfy you with regard to me, Allah would soon make you angry with me. If I tell you the truth, you will be angry with me, but I hope for a good outcome from Allah, the Mighty and Exalted. By Allah, I do not have any excuse. By Allah, I have never been stronger nor wealthier than when I remained behind you."' "'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "This one has spoken the truth. Get up until Allah decides about you." Some men of the Banu Salima followed me and said to me, "By Allah, we have not known you to commit a sin before this! Were you unable to offer an excuse to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, like the others who stayed behind made excuses? The Messenger of Allah's prayer for forgiveness would have compensated for your sin. By Allah, they continued to reproach me until I wanted to return to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and deny what I had said. Then I said to them, "Has anyone else met with the same as me?" They said, "Yes, two men have met with it. They said the same as you said and the same thing that was said to you was said to them."' He said, 'I said, "Who are they?" They said, "Murara ibn ar-Rabi' al-'Amiri and Hilal ibn Umayya al-Waqifi." They mentioned to me two righteous men who had been present at Badr and had good character. When they mentioned them to me, I was determined.' "'The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, forbade people to speak to the three of us out of all those who had remained behind him. So the people avoided us and changed towards us until the earth seemed strange to me and it was not the same earth I used to know. We remained that way for fifty days. My two companions were miserable and stayed in their homes, weeping. I was the youngest of them, and I was the toughest of them. I used to go out and attend the prayer with the Muslims and I would walk in the markets but no one would speak to me. I went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and greeted him while he was in his assembly after the prayer and would say to myself, "Did he move his lips to return the greeting or not?" Then I would pray near him and sneak a look at him and he would look at me while I attended to my prayer, but when I turned towards him, he would turn away from me. When that harshness of the Muslims went on too long a time for me, I climbed over the wall of Abu Qatada's garden. He was my cousin and the dearest of people to me. I greeted him, and, by Allah, he did not return the greeting to me. I said to him, "Abu Qatada, I ask you by Allah, do you not know that I love Allah and His Messenger?" He was silent, and I repeated my adjuration and he was still silent. I again repeated my adjuration and he said, "Allah and His Messenger know best." My eyes overflowed with tears and I turned and climbed back over the wall. "He said, 'While I was walking in the market of Madina, a farmer from the people of Syria, who had brought some food to sell in Madina, said, "Who will direct me to Ka'b ibn Malik?" The people began to point me out to him until he came up to me and handed me a letter from the king of Ghassan. I was a scribe and so I read it. It said, "Following on from that: it has reached us that your companion has been harsh to you. Allah has not put you in a place to be humiliated and deprived. Join us and we will console you." When I had read it, I said, "This is also part of the test," and I took it to the oven and burned it in it. "'When forty of the fifty days had passed and revelation was still delayed, a messenger from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came to me and said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commands you to withdraw from your wife." I said, "Am I to divorce her or what am I to do?" He said, "No, just withdraw from her and do not go near her." He sent the same message to my two companions. I said to my wife, "Join your family and stay with them until Allah decides about this business."' "Ka'b said, 'The wife of Hilal ibn Umayya went to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said to him, "Messenger of Allah, Hilal ibn Umayya is an old man unable to look after himself and he has no servant. Would you dislike me serving him?" He said, "No, but do not let him come near you." She said, "By Allah, he has no impulse for anything. By Allah, he has remained weeping since the day of this business started until today." Some of my family said to me, "You should ask permission from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for your wife. He gave permission to the wife of Hilal ibn Umayya to serve him." I said, "I will not ask the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for permission for her. How do I know what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would say if I asked his permission being a young man!" I remained like that for ten days, and fifty days were completed from the time when speaking to us was first prohibited. "'Then on the morning after the fiftieth night, I prayed Fajr on top of one of our houses. While I was sitting in the grip of the state which Allah Almighty mentioned about us, my self being constricted and the earth seeming narrow for me after it had been wide, I heard someone shouting at the top of his voice from the top of Sal': "Ka'b ibn Malik, good news for you!" I fell down in prostration and knew that relief had come. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, announced to the people the turning of Allah towards us after he had prayed the Fajr prayer. The people came to bring us the good news. They went to my two companions to bring them the good news. One man spurred on his horse to reach me and one of Aslam ran towards me and climbed the mountain. The voice reached me quicker than the horse. When the one whose voice I had heard came to me to give me the good news, I removed my garments and put them on him because of the good news he had brought. By Allah, that day I had no other garments than those. I borrowed two garments and wore them and went to go before the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Crowds of people met me to congratulate me on Allah's turning towards me. They were saying to me, "Enjoy the turning of Allah towards you!"' Ka'b said, 'Until I entered the mosque. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was sitting surrounded by people. Talha ibn 'Ubaydullah got up, hurrying to shake my hand and congratulate me. By Allah, not one of the Muhajriun got up except him. I will never forget what Talha did.' "Ka'b said, 'When I greeted the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, his face was shining with joy and he said, "Rejoice in the best day that has come to you since your mother bore you!"' He said, 'I said, "Is it from you, Messenger of Allah, or from Allah?" He said, "No, indeed it is from Allah!" When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was happy, his face used to shine as if it were a part of the moon. We used to recognise that in him. When I sat down in front of him, I said, 'Messenger of Allah, part of my repentance is that I divest myself of my property as sadaqa for Allah and His Messenger." The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Keep part of your property for yourself. That will be better for you." So I said, "I will keep my share at Khaybar." I said, "Messenger of Allah, Allah has saved me on account of being truthful, and part of my repentance is that I will speak nothing but the truth for as long as I live." By Allah, I do not know of anyone among the Muslims whom Allah has tried in truthfulness more. I have not inclined to a lie from the time I said that to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, until this very day, and I hope that Allah Almighty will protect me during what remains of my life.' "He said, 'Allah then sent down, "Allah has turned towards the Prophet, and the Muhajirun and the Ansar, - to - Fear Allah and be with the truthful." (9:117-119) 'By Allah, after Allah guided me to Islam, Allah did not bestow on me any blessing greater than my truthfulness to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the fact that I did not lie to him and get destroyed as those who lied were destroyed. When the revelation was sent down, Allah Almighty said about those who lied, the worst thing He said about anyone. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said, "They will swear to you by Allah when you return to them, so that you leave them alone - to - Allah is certainly not pleased with degenerate people." (9:95-96)' "Ka'b said, "We three were left apart from those whose excuses had been accepted by the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when they swore to them and whose allegiance he took and for whom he asked forgiveness. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, deferred the matter of us until Allah decided about it and Allah said, "to the three who were left behind" and what He mentioned was not our staying back from the expedition but his leaving us and deferring our matter beyond that of the others who stayed behind and made excuses to him which he accepted.'"