English Translation

Yunus ibn Muhammad narrated to us, saying: Yahya ibn Abd al-Rahman al-'Asari narrated to us, saying: Shihab ibn Abbad narrated to us, that he heard one of the delegation of Abd al-Qays say: We came to the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and their joy at us was intense. When we reached the people, they made room for us, so we sat down. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, welcomed us and supplicated for us, then looked at us and said: 'Who is your chief and your leader?' So we all pointed to al-Mundhir ibn 'A'idh. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'Is this al-Ashajj (the scarred one)?' That was the first day this name was given to him, because of a blow to his face by a donkey's hoof. We said: 'Yes, O Messenger of Allah.' He had stayed behind after the people, hobbling their mounts and gathering their baggage, then he brought out his bag and took off his travel clothes and put on his best clothes, then he came forward to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who had stretched out his leg and was reclining. When al-Ashajj drew near him, the people made room for him and said: 'Here, O Ashajj.' The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — sitting up straight and drawing in his leg — said: 'Here, O Ashajj.' So he sat at the right of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who sat up straight, welcomed him and was gentle with him, then asked about his land, and named for him the village of al-Safa and al-Mushaqqar and other villages of Hajar. He said: 'By my father and mother, O Messenger of Allah, you know the names of our villages better than we do!' He said: 'I have indeed trodden your land, and it was made spacious for me there.' He said: Then he turned to the Ansar and said: 'O company of the Ansar, honor your brothers, for they resemble you in Islam and are most like you in outward appearance and skin; they accepted Islam willingly, neither compelled nor deprived, whereas some people refused to accept Islam until they were killed.' Then when he said: 'How did you find the generosity of your brothers toward you and their hospitality to you?' They said: 'The best of brothers — they softened our bedding, made our food good, and by night and by day they taught us the Book of our Lord and the Sunnah of our Prophet.' The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was pleased and delighted by this. Then he turned to us man by man, testing us on what we had learned and come to know. Among us were those who had learned the tashahhud, the Opening chapter of the Book, one or two surahs, and one or two portions of the Sunnah. Then he turned his face to us and said: 'Do you have any of your provisions with you?' The people were delighted at that and hurried to their mounts, and every man came forward with a heap of dates, which he placed on a leather mat before him. He pointed with a palm-branch stick in his hand, which he used to trim to less than a forearm's length, and said: 'Do you call this the ta'dud?' We said: 'Yes.' Then he pointed to another heap and said: 'Do you call this the sarafan?' We said: 'Yes.' Then he pointed to a heap and said: 'Do you call this the barni?' We said: 'Yes.' He said: 'Indeed it is the best of your dates and the most beneficial for you.' He said: So we returned from that delegation and increased our planting of it and our desire for it grew, until it became the bulk of our palm trees and our dates became the barni. He said: Then al-Ashajj said: 'O Messenger of Allah, our land is a heavy, unhealthy land, and if we do not drink these fermented drinks, our complexions become disturbed and our bellies swell.' The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'Do not drink from the gourd, the green jar, or the hollowed trunk, and let one of you drink from his water-skin, tied at its mouth.' Al-Ashajj said to him: 'By my father and mother, O Messenger of Allah, grant us a concession regarding these.' He gestured with his palms and said: 'O Ashajj, if I granted you a concession regarding a vessel like this' — and he gestured with his palms showing the size he had drunk from — 'you would drink from one like this' — and he spread his hands apart, meaning larger than that — 'until when one of you became intoxicated from his drink, he would rise against his cousin and gash his leg with the sword.' There was in the delegation a man of Banu 'Asr called al-Harith, whose leg had been gashed in a drinking session of theirs, over a verse of poetry he had recited about a woman among them, so one of the people of that house rose and gashed his leg with the sword. Al-Harith said: 'When I heard that from the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, I began to let my garment hang down to cover the wound on my leg, but Allah had already exposed it to His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.'