Musnad Ahmad 22546

Translation

✧ We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on a journey. He said: 'If you do not reach water tomorrow, you will be thirsty.' The swift ones among the people set off, heading for the water, while I stayed close to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. His mount swayed, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ dozed off, so I supported him and he leaned on me. Then he swayed again, and I supported him and he leaned on me. Then he swayed again, and I supported him and he leaned on me, until he almost fell off his mount. I supported him and he woke up. He said: 'Who is the man?' I said: 'Abu Qatadah.' He said: 'Since when have you been traveling?' I said: 'Since last night.' He said: 'May Allah protect you as you have protected His Messenger.' Then he said: 'Let us halt for the night.' He turned toward a tree and dismounted. He said: 'Look, do you see anyone?' I said: 'Here is one rider; here are two riders' – until I counted seven. He said: 'Guard our prayer for us.' We slept, and nothing woke us but the heat of the sun. We woke up and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ mounted and traveled, and we traveled a short while. Then he dismounted and said: 'Do you have any water with you?' I said: 'Yes, I have a small water-skin with some water in it.' He said: 'Bring it.' I brought it to him. He said: 'Take from it; take from it.' The people performed ablution, and a sip remained. He said: 'Keep it carefully, O Abu Qatadah, for it will have a story.' Then Bilal gave the call to prayer, and they prayed the two rak'ahs before dawn, then they prayed the dawn prayer. Then he mounted and we mounted. Some of them said to one another: 'We have been negligent in our prayer.' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'What are you saying? If it is a matter of your worldly affairs, that is your concern; but if it is a matter of your religion, then it is up to me.' We said: 'O Messenger of Allah, we have been negligent in our prayer.' He said: 'There is no negligence in sleep; negligence is only when one is awake. So when that happens, pray it, and the next day at its time.' Then he said: 'What do you think about the people?' They said: 'You said yesterday that if they did not reach water tomorrow, they would be thirsty. So the people are at the water.' He said: 'The people woke up and found their Prophet missing. Some of them said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is at the water. Among the people were Abu Bakr and Umar. They said: O people, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would not go ahead of you to the water and leave you behind. If the people obey Abu Bakr and Umar, they will be rightly guided.' He said this three times. When the midday heat became intense, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appeared to them. They said: 'O Messenger of Allah, we are perishing of thirst; our necks are cut off.' He said: 'No destruction upon you.' Then he said: 'O Abu Qatadah, bring the water-skin.' I brought it to him. He said: 'Open my drinking cup for me' – meaning his bowl. I opened it and brought it to him. He began pouring into it and giving the people to drink. The people crowded around him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'O people, be orderly in filling, for all of you will leave fully satisfied.' The people drank until none remained but me and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He poured for me and said: 'Drink, O Abu Qatadah.' I said: 'You drink, O Messenger of Allah.' He said: 'The one who serves water to the people is the last of them to drink.' So I drank, and he drank after me, and there remained in the water-skin about as much as had been in it, and they were that day three hundred.

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