174 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMADHisham h. Huhaysh b. Khdid, from his father, from his grandfather Hubaysh b.
Khalid, the Companion of the Messenger of God (SAAS), who stated that the
Messenger of God (SAAS) when forced out of Mecca left there as an Emigrant,
along with Aba Bakr, 'Amir b. Fuhayra and their guide 'Abd Allah b. Wrayqit
al-Laythi. They passed by the tent of Umm Ma'bad, a fearless, strong woman
who would sit, legs drawn up and wrapped in her garment, at the entrance to the
"leather tent." And he went on to relate the same (introductory material as in the
prior account).
He went on, L'And I think it was Muhammad b. Ahmad b. 'Ali b. Makhlad
who related to us, quoting Muhammad h. Yanus b. Miis, that is al-Kudaymi,
quoting 'Abd al-'Aziz b. Yahy b. 'Abd al-'Aziz, the freed-man of al-'Ahhas b.
'Abd al-Munalib, quoting Muhammad b. Sulayman b. Salit al-Ansari, quoting
his father, from his father Sali! al-Badri, who said, 'When the Messenger of God
(SAAS) left on the emigration accompanied by Aba Bakr, 'Amir b. Fuhayra with
Ibn Wrayqit guiding them on their path, they passed by Umm Ma'bad
al-Khuza'iyya, she not knowing who he was. He asked her, "Umm Ma'bad, do you
have any milk?" She replied, 'LNo, I swear, our goats have not been with males."
"What about that one?" he asked. "She is the last of the goats left after the
drought."'" His account then relates the rest of the story much as given above.
Al-Bayhaqi then said, "It is likely that all these stories relate to one occasion."
He then related an anecdote similar to that about the goat of Umm Ma'bad
al-Khuza'iyya, stating, "The ha&. Abn 'Abd Allah related to us, by dictation,
that Aba Bakr Ahmad b. Ishaq b. AyFb related to them, quoting Muhammad
h. Ghdib, quoting Aha al-Walid, quoting 'Abd All& b. Iyyad b. Laqif, quoting
Iyyad b. Laqi!, from Qays b. al-Nucma, who said, 'When the Prophet and Aha
Bakr left in secret they passed by a slave watching some goats. They asked him
for milk. He replied, "I don't have one giving milk. I just have this one young
female goat here who gave birth at the beginning of the winter, hut her foetus
was malformed and she has no milk left." "Call her over to me," he asked. He
did so and the Messenger of God (SAAS) tethered her and stroked her teat and
prayed until it began to flow. Aba Bakr then brought a vessel and he milked the
goat, gave to Aba Bakr to drink, milked again, and gave to the shepherd, then
milked again and drank.'
"The shepherd then asked, 'For heaven's sake, who are you? I never saw the
like of you!'
"'Do you think you could keep it secret if I told you?' he asked. 'Oh yes,' he
replied.
"'I am Muhammad, the Messenger of God,' he told him.
"'You mean you're the one Quraysh say claims to be a Sabian?' he asked. 'Yes,
they do say that,' he told him.
"'Well,' the shepherd said, 'I bear witness that you bring the truth, and that
only a prophet could do as you have. I am your follower now.'