English translation
3905. Narrated 'Aishah رضي الله عنها, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ: I never remembered my parents believing in any religion other than the true religion (i.e., Islāmic Monotheism), and (I don't remember) a single day passing without our being visited by Allāh's Messenger ﷺ in the morning and in the evening. When the Muslims were put to test (i.e., troubled by Al-Mushrikūn)(3), Abū Bakr set out to emigrate to the land of Ethiopia, and when he reached Bark-al-Ghimād(1), Ibn Ad-Daghina, the chief of the tribe of Qāra, met him and said, "O Abū Bakr! Where are you going?" Abū Bakr replied, "My people have turned me out (of my country), so I want to wander in the land and worship my Lord." Ibn Ad-Daghina said, "O Abū Bakr! A man like you should not leave his homeland, nor should he be driven out, because you help the destitute, earn their living, and you keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the weak and poor, entertain guests generously, and help the calamity-stricken persons. Therefore I am your protector. Go back and worship your Lord in your town." So, Abū Bakr returned and Ibn Ad-Daghina accompanied him. In the evening Ibn Ad-Daghina visited the nobles of Quraish and said to them, "A man like Abū Bakr should not leave his homeland, nor should he be driven out. Do you (i.e., Quraish) drive out a man who helps the destitute, earns their living, keeps good relations with his kith and kin, helps the weak and poor, entertains guests generously and helps the calamity-stricken persons?" So, the people of Quraish could not refuse Ibn Ad-Daghina's protection, and they said to Ibn Ad-Daghina, "Let Abū Bakr worship his Lord in his house. He can offer Ṣalāt (prayer) and recite there whatever he likes, but he should not hurt us with it, and should not do it publicly, because we are afraid that he may influence our women and children." Ibn Ad-Daghina told Abū Bakr of all that. Abū Bakr stayed in that state, worshipping his Lord in his house. He did not offer Ṣalāt (prayer) publicly, nor did he recite the Qur'an outside his house. Then a thought occurred to Abū Bakr to build a mosque in front of his house, and there he used to offer Ṣalāt (prayer) and recite the Qur'an. The women and children of Al-Mushrikūn began to gather around him in great number. They used to wonder at him and look at him. Abū Bakr was a man given to weep much, and he could not help weeping on reciting the Qur'an. That situation scared the Quraish nobles of Al-Mushrikūn, so they sent for Ibn Ad-Daghina. When he came to them, they said, "We accepted your protection of Abū Bakr on condition that he should worship his Lord in his house, but he has violated the conditions and he has built a mosque in front of his house where he offers Ṣalāt (prayer) and recites the Qur'an publicly. We are now afraid that he may influence our women and children unfavourably. So, prevent him from that. If he likes to confine the worship of his Lord to his house, he may do so, but if he insists on doing that openly, ask him to release you from your obligation of his protection, for we dislike to break our pact with you, but we deny Abū Bakr the right to announce his act publicly." Ibn Ad-Daghina went to Abū Bakr and said, ("O Abū Bakr!) You know well what contract I have made on your behalf; now, you are either to abide by it, or else release me of my obligation of protecting you, because I do not want the Arabs hear that my people have dishonoured a contract I have made on behalf of another man." Abū Bakr replied, "I release you from your pact to protect me, and am contented with the protection of Allāh عزّ وجلّ." At that time, the Prophet ﷺ was in Makkah, and he said to the Muslims, "In a dream I have been shown the place of your emigration, a land of date-palm trees between two mountains, (the two stony tracts)". So, some people emigrated to Al-Madīna, and most of those people who had previously emigrated to the land of Ethiopia, returned to Al-Madīna. Abū Bakr also prepared to leave for Al-Madīna, but Allāh's Messenger ﷺ said to him, "Wait for a while, because I hope that I will be allowed to emigrate also." Abū Bakr said, "Do you indeed expect this? Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you!" The Prophet ﷺ said, "Yes." So, Abū Bakr did not emigrate for the sake of Allāh's Messenger ﷺ in order to accompany him. He fed two she-camels he possessed with the leaves of As-Samur tree that fell on being struck by a stick for four months. One day, while we were sitting in Abū Bakr's house at noon, someone said to Abū Bakr, "This is Allāh's Messenger ﷺ, with his head covered coming at a time at which he never used to visit us before." Abū Bakr said, "May my parents be sacrificed for him. By Allāh, he has not come at this hour except for a great necessity." So Allāh's Messenger ﷺ came and asked permission to enter, and he was allowed to enter. When he entered, he said to Abū Bakr, "Tell everyone who is present with you to leave." Abū Bakr replied, "There are none but your family. May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allāh's Messenger!" The Prophet ﷺ said, "I have been given permission to emigrate." Abū Bakr said, "Shall I accompany you? May my father be sacrificed for you, O Allāh's Messenger!" Allāh's Messenger ﷺ said, "Yes." Abū Bakr said, "O Allāh's Messenger! May my father be sacrificed for you, take one of these two she-camels of mine." Allāh's Messenger ﷺ replied, "(I will) but with payment." So we prepared the baggage quickly and put some journey-food in a leather bag for them. Asmā', Abū Bakr's daughter, cut a piece from her waistbelt and tied the mouth of the leather bag with it, and for that reason she was named Dhāt-un-Niṭāqain (i.e., the owner of two belts). Then Allāh's Messenger ﷺ and Abū Bakr reached a cave on Mount Thaur and stayed there for three nights. 'Abdullāh bin Abī Bakr who was intelligent sagacious youth, used to stay (with them) overnight. He used to leave them before daybreak so that in the morning he would be with Quraish as if he had spent the night in Makkah. He would keep in mind any plot made against them, and when it became dark he would (go and) inform them of it. 'Āmir bin Fuhaira, the freed slave of Abū Bakr, used to bring the milch sheep (of his master, Abū Bakr) to them a little while after nightfall in order to rest the sheep there. So they always had fresh milk at night, the milk of their sheep, and the milk which they warmed by putting heated stones in it. 'Āmir bin Fuhaira would then call the herd away when it was still dark (before daybreak). He did the same in each of those three nights. Allāh's Messenger ﷺ and Abū Bakr had hired a man from the tribe of Banī Ad-Dīl from the family of Banī 'Abd bin 'Adī as an expert guide, and he was in alliance with the family of Al-'Āsh bin Wā'il As-Sahmī and he was on the religion of the infidels of Quraish. The Prophet ﷺ and Abū Bakr trusted him and gave him their two she-camels and took his promise to bring their two she-camels to the cave of Mount Thaur in the morning after three nights. And (when they set out), 'Āmir bin Fuhaira and the guide went along with them and the guide led them along the seashore.