Sahih al-Bukhari
Sahih al-Bukhari 3951
حَدَّثَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ بُكَيْرٍ، حَدَّثَنَا اللَّيْثُ، عَنْ عُقَيْلٍ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ كَعْبٍ، أَنَّ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ كَعْبٍ، قَالَ سَمِعْتُ كَعْبَ بْنَ مَالِكٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ يَقُولُ لَمْ أَتَخَلَّفْ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فِي غَزْوَةٍ غَزَاهَا إِلاَّ فِي غَزْوَةِ تَبُوكَ، غَيْرَ أَنِّي تَخَلَّفْتُ عَنْ غَزْوَةِ بَدْرٍ، وَلَمْ يُعَاتَبْ أَحَدٌ تَخَلَّفَ عَنْهَا، إِنَّمَا خَرَجَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يُرِيدُ عِيرَ قُرَيْشٍ، حَتَّى جَمَعَ اللَّهُ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ عَدُوِّهِمْ عَلَى غَيْرِ مِيعَادٍ.
Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.
Yahya ibn Bukayr narrated to me: al-Layth narrated to us, from Uqayl, from Ibn Shihab, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abdullah ibn Kaʿb, that Abdullah ibn Kaʿb said: I heard Kaʿb ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) say: “I never stayed behind from an expedition on which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) went, except the expedition of Tabuk. I had also stayed behind from the expedition of Badr, but no one who stayed behind from it was reproached, for the Messenger of Allah had set out intending to intercept the Quraysh caravan, until Allah brought him and his enemy together unexpectedly.”
Notes and open questions — unreviewed
The source distinguishes Kaʿb staying behind at Tabuk from his absence at Badr, where the expedition began as an attempt to intercept a caravan.