Musannaf Ibn Abi Shayba 36:473

Khalid bin Makhlad narrated to us, Abd al-Rahman bin Abd al-Aziz al-Ansari narrated to us, he said: Ibn Shihab narrated to me, he said: Abd al-Rahman bin Abd Allah bin Ka’b bin Malik narrated to me, he said: Abd Allah bin Ka’b bin Malik narrated to me, from his father Ka’b, who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) intended to go to the Banu al-Asfar to fight them, he made their affair clear to the people. It was rare for him to intend a military expedition without veiling it with another, until this expedition. He faced intense heat, a long journey, and a numerous enemy, so he revealed to the people the direction he was going so they could prepare for their enemy. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) prepared, and the people prepared with him. I began to go out to prepare, then I would return without having accomplished anything, until the people finished. It was said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was departing and going out to his destination. I said: "I will prepare a day or two after him, then I will catch up with them." I had two riding camels—I had never possessed two riding camels before that—and I was capable and strong in my equipment. I kept going out after him and returning without having accomplished anything, until the people had gone far and hastened. I kept going out for the sake of conversation, but the preparations occupied me, and I resolved to stay behind until the people had outpaced me. I kept going out, but I saw nothing—I saw no one except a man whom Allah had excused, or a man suspected of hypocrisy, and that saddened me. I began to prepare an excuse for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) when he arrived, and I readied my speech. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did not mention me until he arrived at Tabuk. While he was sitting among the people in Tabuk, he said: "What has Ka’b bin Malik done?" A man from my people stood up and said: "His two cloaks and looking at his own sides occupied him." Another man spoke up and said: "By Allah, O Messenger of Allah, we know nothing of him but good." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) remained silent. When it was said that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was approaching, the falsehood departed from me, and I abandoned the lies and excuses I had gathered. I knew that nothing would save me from him except the truth, so I resolved to be truthful to him. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrived in Medina in the morning. I went out to him, and he was sitting among the people in the mosque. When he returned from a journey, he would enter the mosque, pray two rak'ahs, and then enter upon his family. I found him sitting in the mosque. When he looked at me, he called me, saying: "Come here, O Ka’b. What kept you back from me?" He smiled the smile of one who is angry. I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I have no excuse. I was never stronger or wealthier than I was when I stayed behind from you." The hypocrites came to him swearing, and he accepted their excuses, asked forgiveness for them, and left their inner secrets to Allah the Almighty. When I told him the truth, he said: "As for this one, he has spoken the truth. Stand up until Allah decides regarding you what He will decide." I stood up, and men from the Banu Salama stood up and said to me: "By Allah, you have done nothing. By Allah, the Messenger of Allah’s asking forgiveness for you would have been sufficient for your sin, just as he did for others, for he accepted their excuses and asked forgiveness for them." They kept blaming me until I intended to return and call myself a liar. Then I said to them: "Has anyone else said this, or excused himself as I have?" They said: "Yes." I said: "Who?" They said: "Hilal bin Umayya al-Waqifi and Murara bin Rabi’ al-’Amiri." They mentioned two righteous men who had witnessed Badr, who had excused themselves just as I had, and it was said to them just as it was said to me. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) forbade speaking to us. We began to go out among the people, but no one would speak to us, no one would greet us, and no one would return our greetings. When forty nights had passed, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) sent word to us: "Separate from your wives." As for Hilal bin Umayya, his wife came to the Messenger of Allah and said to him: "He is an old man whose eyesight has weakened, so do you dislike that I make his food for him?" He said: "No, but do not let him approach you." She said: "By Allah, he has no movement toward anything. By Allah, he has not stopped weeping since his affair happened until this day." Some of my family said to me: "If you had asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for your wife, as Hilal bin Umayya’s wife asked, for he has permitted her to serve him." I said: "By Allah, I will not ask him about her, and I do not know what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would say if I asked him, for he is an old man and I am a young man." So I said to my wife: "Join your family until Allah decides what He will decide." We continued to walk among the people, and no one would speak to us or return our greetings. I came and climbed the wall of a cousin of mine in his garden and greeted him, but he did not move his lips to return my greeting. I said: "I adjure you by Allah, do you know that I love Allah and His Messenger?" He did not speak a word to me. I returned, and he did not speak to me until the third or fourth time, when he said: "Allah and His Messenger know best." I went out, and while I was walking in the market, the people were pointing at me with their hands. A Nabati from the Nabatis of Syria was asking about me, and they began to point me out to him until he came to me and handed me a letter from some of my people in Syria, saying: "It has reached us that your companion has treated you harshly and shunned you. Come to us, for Allah has not placed you in a land of humiliation or a land of loss; we will comfort you with our wealth." I said: "To Allah we belong and to Him we shall return. Even the people of disbelief have coveted me." I took it to an oven and burned it in it. By Allah, I was in that state which Allah mentioned, where the earth, despite its vastness, had become constrained for us, and our own souls had become constrained for us, for fifty nights from the time we were forbidden from speaking. Then the repentance was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) announced Allah’s repentance upon us when he prayed the dawn prayer. The people went to give us the good news. A man spurred his horse toward me, and a runner from Aslam ran and climbed the mountain, and his voice was faster than the horse. He called out: "O Ka’b bin Malik, rejoice!" I fell down prostrating, and I knew that relief had come. When the one whose voice I heard came to me, I gave him two garments for his good news—by Allah, I owned no other two garments that day—and I borrowed two garments and went out to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The people met me in groups, congratulating me on Allah’s repentance upon me, until I entered the mosque. Talha bin Ubayd Allah stood up and hurried toward me until he shook my hand and congratulated me; no one from the Muhajirun stood up for me except him, and Ka’b would not forget that for Talha. I approached until I stood before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). His face was like a piece of the moon; when he was happy, his face would shine like that. He called out to me: "Come here, O Ka’b. Rejoice at the best day that has passed over you since your mother gave birth to you." I said: "Is it from Allah or from you?" He said: "No, rather it is from Allah. You were truthful to Allah, so He was truthful to you." I said: "Part of my repentance today is that I give away my wealth as charity for the sake of Allah and His Messenger." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Keep some of your wealth." I said: "I will keep my share in Khaybar." Ka’b said: "By Allah, Allah has not tested a man with truthfulness in speech as He tested me."