Musnad Ahmad 937:235

Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, Sulayman ibn al-Mughirah informed us, Humayd ibn Hilal narrated to us, from Abdullah ibn al-Samit, who said: Abu Dharr said: We went out from our people, Ghifar, and they used to consider the sacred month lawful. I, my brother Unays, and our mother went out until we descended upon a maternal uncle of ours who possessed wealth and status. Our uncle honored us and treated us well, but his people envied us. They said to him: "When you go away from your family, Unays will be behind them." So our uncle came and repeated to us what had been said to him. I said: "As for the kindness you have shown in the past, you have now tarnished it, and we have no further association with you." He said: So we brought our camels near, loaded them, and our uncle covered himself with his garment and began to weep. He said: We set out until we descended in the vicinity of Mecca. He said: Unays challenged a man to a contest regarding our camels and the like of them. They went to a soothsayer, who ruled in favor of Unays, so he brought us our camels and the like of them. "I had prayed, O son of my brother, three years before I met the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)." I said: "For whom?" He said: "For Allah." I said: "And where did you face?" He said: "Wherever Allah directed me." He said: "I would pray the night prayer, and when it was the end of the night, I would fall as if I were a garment." Abu al-Nadr said: Sulayman said: "As if I were a garment," meaning a cloak, and the sun would rise over me. He said: Unays said: "I have a need in Mecca, so suffice me until I return to you." He said: He went away and was delayed in returning to me, then he came to me. I said: "What kept you?" He said: "I met a man who claims that Allah sent him with your religion." I said: "What do the people say about him?" He said: "They say he is a poet, a sorcerer, and a soothsayer." And Unays was a poet. He said: "I have heard the speech of the soothsayers, and he does not speak their speech. I have measured his speech against the meters of poetry, and by Allah, it does not fit the tongue of anyone as poetry. By Allah, he is truthful, and they are liars." I said to him: "Will you suffice me until I go and look?" He said: "Yes, but be cautious of the people of Mecca, for they have become hostile toward him and frowned upon him." (Affan said: "They have become spiteful toward him." Bahz said: "They have preceded him." Abu al-Nadr said: "They have looked at him [with hatred].") He said: So I set out until I arrived in Mecca. I sought out a man among them and said: "Where is this man whom you call the Sabian?" He pointed to me and said: "The Sabian!" The people of the valley turned upon me with every clod of earth and bone until I fell down unconscious. When I rose, I rose as if I were a red statue. I went to Zamzam, drank from its water, and washed the blood from myself. I entered between the Kaaba and its curtains. I remained there, O son of my brother, for thirty days and nights, and I had no food except the water of Zamzam. I grew fat until the folds of my belly broke, and I did not find on my liver the hunger of starvation. He said: While the people of Mecca were in a bright, moonlit night (Affan said: "Clear night," and Bahz and Abu al-Nadr said: "Bright night"), Allah struck the ears of the people of Mecca, so no one was circumambulating the House except two women. They came upon me while they were calling upon Isaf and Na'ilah. I said: "Marry one to the other." That did not deter them. They came upon me, and I said: "They are like wood." (Except that I was not). He said: They went away wailing and saying: "If there were any of our men here..." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and Abu Bakr met them as they were descending from the mountain. He said: "What is the matter with you?" They said: "The Sabian is between the Kaaba and its curtains." He said: "What did he say to you?" They said: "He said to us a word that fills the mouth." He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) came, he and his companion, until he touched the Stone, circumambulated the House, and then prayed. He said: I came to him, and I was the first to greet him with the greeting of Islam. He said: "And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah. From whom are you?" I said: "From Ghifar." He said: He gestured with his hand and placed it on his forehead. I said to myself: "He disliked that I belong to Ghifar." I wanted to take his hand, but his companion pushed me away, and he was more knowledgeable about him than I was. He said: "How long have you been here?" I said: "I have been here for thirty days and nights." He said: "Who was feeding you?" I said: "I had no food except the water of Zamzam." He said: "I grew fat until the folds of my belly broke, and I did not find on my liver the hunger of starvation." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "It is blessed, and it is food that satisfies." Abu Bakr said: "Permit me, O Messenger of Allah, to provide his food tonight." He did so. He said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went, and Abu Bakr went, and I went with them until Abu Bakr opened a door and began to take for us from the raisins of Ta'if. He said: That was the first food I ate there. I stayed as long as I stayed, then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "I have been directed to a land with palm trees, and I do not think it is anything but Yathrib. Will you convey my message to your people? Perhaps Allah will benefit them through you and reward you for them." He said: I set out until I came to my brother Unays. He said to me: "What have you done?" I said: "I have embraced Islam and believed." He said: "I have no aversion to your religion, for I have embraced Islam and believed." Then we came to our mother, and she said: "I have no aversion to your religion, for I have embraced Islam and believed." We loaded our belongings until we came to our people, Ghifar. Some of them embraced Islam before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrived in Medina. (Yazid said in Baghdad: Some of them said: "When he arrives, we will embrace Islam." Bahz said: "Our brothers, we will embrace Islam." Abu al-Nadr said the same). Khuffaf ibn Ima ibn Rahdah al-Ghifari used to lead them in prayer, and he was their leader at that time. The rest of them said: "When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrives, we will embrace Islam." When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) arrived in Medina, the rest of them embraced Islam. The Aslam tribe came and said: "O Messenger of Allah, our brothers, we will embrace Islam just as they did." So they embraced Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Ghifar, may Allah forgive it, and Aslam, may Allah keep it safe." Bahz said: "Ima ibn Rahdah used to lead them in prayer." Abu al-Nadr said: "Ima."