Mishkat al-Masabih 1126

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Amr ibn Salimah said: We lived by a watering place along the route people traveled. Riders would pass by us, and we would ask them, What is happening with the people? What is happening with the people? Who is this man? They would reply, He claims that God has sent him and revealed things to him. I would memorize those words, and it was as though they were instilled in my heart. The Arabs were delaying their acceptance of Islam until the conquest, saying, Leave him and his people alone; if he prevails over them, then he is a truthful Prophet. When the conquest took place, every people hastened to accept Islam, and my father was the first of my people to accept it. When he arrived, he said, By God, I have come to you from the true Prophet. He said: Pray such-and-such a prayer at such-and-such a time, and pray such-and-such a prayer at such-and-such a time. When the time for prayer comes, let one of you call the adhan, and let the one among you who knows the most Quran lead you in prayer. They looked, and there was no one who knew more Quran than I did, because of what I had learned from the riders. So they put me in front of them, though I was only six or seven years old. I had a mantle that would ride up when I prostrated. A woman of the tribe said, Will you not cover the backside of your reciter from us? So they bought cloth and cut a shirt for me. I was never happier about anything than I was about that shirt. Al-Bukhari transmitted it.