The journey from the cave of Thawr to Medina and the entry into the city

The Prophet and Abu Bakr left the Cave of Thawr with the guide Abd Allah ibn Uraiqit and Amir ibn Fuhayra, and took the coastal road rather than the familiar road, until they reached Quba on Monday, 8 Rabi al-Awwal, the first year of the Hijra. ^{1 2}

They passed by Umm Ma'bad al-Khuza'iyya, who fed them and milked her goat for them. Suraqa ibn Malik followed them in hope of the reward, and the two forelegs of his horse sank into the ground up to the knees; he asked for safe conduct, and the Prophet ﷺ wrote him a document of safety on a piece of leather. ^{3 4} The Prophet met Abu Burayda on the road, who became a Muslim with seventy men of his people, and then the Prophet made his turban a banner. ² Al-Zubayr met a caravan of Muslim merchants returning from Syria, and clothed him and Abu Bakr in white garments. ^{2 5}

The Prophet stayed at Quba with Kulthum ibn al-Hidm for four days, and founded the mosque of Quba and prayed in it. ^{6 7} A Jew on the fortress heard his voice and called out: "O Arabs, this is your grandfather for whom you were waiting!" and the Muslims rushed to their weapons. ⁶

On a Friday the Prophet rode, with Abu Bakr behind him, and sent to the Banu al-Najjar, his maternal uncles. The Friday prayer overtook him among the Banu Salim ibn Awf, and he led them in prayer, then entered Medina. The lanes rang with the takbir and the glorification, and the Helpers longed for him to lodge with them; the she-camel walked until she knelt at the site of the Prophet's Mosque, and then Abu Ayyub al-Ansari lodged him in his house. ^{7 8 9}

After some days Sawda, his daughters Fatima and Umm Kulthum, Usama ibn Zayd and Umm Ayman reached him, and Abd Allah ibn Abi Bakr went out with the family of Abu Bakr. Zaynab stayed with her husband Abu al-As until she emigrated after Badr. ⁸ Fever struck Abu Bakr and Bilal. When fever seized Abu Bakr he recited a verse that death was nearer to him than the strap of his sandal; when the fever left Bilal, he longed for Mecca and its waters. ^{8 10} The Prophet prayed that God make Medina dear to them as Mecca was, or dearer, and that He cure its fever. ¹¹

• The count of days at Quba differs between reports; the book says Ibn Ishaq holds four days, which al-Mansuri chose, and al-Bukhari has other figures. ⁷
• The book holds that the verses the Helpers recited on his entry to Medina were said on his first arrival, and that some people think they were said on his return from Tabuk. ⁷