Musnad Ahmad 1007:30

Yazid ibn Harun narrated to us, Hammad ibn Salamah informed us, from Thabit, from Abdullah ibn Rabah, from Abu Qatadah, who said: We were with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) on a journey, and he said: "If you do not reach the water tomorrow, you will be thirsty." The swift ones among the people set out seeking the water, and I stayed with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). The mount of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) leaned, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) dozed off, so I supported him, and he remained supported. Then he leaned until he almost fell from his mount, so I supported him, and he awoke and said: "Who is the man?" I said: Abu Qatadah. He said: "How long have you been traveling?" I said: Since the night. He said: "May Allah protect you as you protected His Messenger." Then he said: "If only we could rest." He leaned toward a tree and dismounted, then said: "Look, do you see anyone?" I said: Here is a rider, here are two riders, until they reached seven. He said: "Guard our prayer for us." We slept, and nothing woke us except the heat of the sun. We awoke, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) mounted and traveled, and we traveled for a while, then he dismounted and said: "Do you have water with you?" I said: Yes, I have a water vessel with some water in it. He said: "Bring it." I brought it to him, and he said: "Wipe with it, wipe with it." The people performed ablution, and a gulp remained. He said: "Keep it, O Abu Qatadah, for it will have a story." Then Bilal gave the call to prayer, and they prayed the two rak'ahs before the dawn, then they prayed the dawn prayer, then he mounted and we mounted. Some of them said to others: We have been negligent in our prayer. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "What are you saying? If it is a matter of your worldly life, then it is your affair, and if it is a matter of your religion, then it is up to me." We said: O Messenger of Allah, we have been negligent in our prayer. He said: "There is no negligence in sleep; the negligence is only in wakefulness. So when that happens, pray it, and the next day at its time." Then he said: "Think about the people." They said: You said yesterday: "If you do not reach the water tomorrow, you will be thirsty." And the people are at the water. He said: "The people woke up having lost their Prophet, and some of them said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is at the water. Among the people were Abu Bakr and Umar, and they said: O people, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) would not precede you to the water and leave you behind. If the people obey Abu Bakr and Umar, they will be guided." He said it three times. When the midday heat intensified, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) appeared to them, and they said: O Messenger of Allah, we have perished from thirst, our necks have been severed. He said: "There is no destruction upon you." Then he said: "O Abu Qatadah, bring the water vessel." I brought it to him, and he said: "Unfasten my drinking cup for me," meaning his vessel. I unfastened it and brought it to him, and he began to pour into it and give the people to drink. The people crowded around him, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "O people, be orderly; all of you will depart satisfied." The people drank until no one remained except me and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). He poured for me and said: "Drink, O Abu Qatadah." I said: Drink you, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "The one who serves the people is the last of them." I drank, and he drank after me, and there remained in the vessel about what was in it, and they were three hundred that day. Abdullah said: Imran ibn Husayn heard me while I was narrating this hadith in the Grand Mosque and said: Who is the man? I said: I am Abdullah ibn Rabah al-Ansari. He said: The people know their hadith better; look at how you narrate, for I am one of the seven from that night. When I finished, he said: I did not think that anyone remembered this hadith except me. Hammad said: Humayd al-Tawil narrated to us, from Bakr ibn Abdullah al-Muzani, from Abdullah ibn Rabah, from Abu Qatadah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) the like of it. And he added: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when he would rest at night, would pillow his head on his right arm, and when he would rest in the morning, he would place his head on his right palm and raise his forearm.