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The Weepers: seven who asked to be carried

البكاؤون: سبعة طلبوا الحمل

October 630 CE · Rajab 9 AH

Medina

Seven men of the Ansar and of Banu Amr ibn Awf, called the Weepers, needy men, came to the Prophet begging for mounts; he said: I find nothing to carry you on — and they turned away, their eyes overflowing with tears that they had nothing to spend. Ibn Yamin ibn Umayr al-Nadri gave one of them a camel and dates.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Arabia
Review
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In time

620630640

In space

Medina

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Summary

Seven men of the Ansar and others of Banu Amr ibn Awf — called al-Bakka'un, "the Weepers" — came to the Prophet in need, asking mounts; he said he had nothing to carry them on, so they turned back with their eyes overflowing with tears, grieved at finding nothing to spend — and Ibn Yamin ibn Umayr al-Nadri gave some of them a water-camel and dates. 1

The account

Ibn Ishaq reports that men of the Muslims came to the Prophet — the Weepers — seven of the Ansar and of Banu Amr ibn Awf. 2

The seven: Salim ibn Umayr, Ulba ibn Zayd brother of Banu Haritha, Abu Layla Abd al-Rahman ibn Ka'b brother of Banu Mazin ibn al-Najjar, Amr ibn Humam ibn al-Jumuh brother of Banu Salama, Abdullah ibn al-Mughaffal al-Muzani, Harami ibn Abdullah brother of Banu Waqif, and Irbad ibn Sariya al-Fazari. 2

They asked the Prophet for mounts, being men of need; he said he found nothing to carry them on, and they turned back with eyes overflowing with tears, grieved at finding nothing to spend. 2

It reached Ibn Ishaq that Ibn Yamin ibn Umayr ibn Ka'b al-Nadri met Abu Layla and Abdullah ibn Mughaffal weeping; he asked them, gave them a water-camel which they rode away on and provisioned them with dates — and they went out with the Prophet. 1

Markers of weakness and doubt

  • Ibn Ishaq said: "some people say: rather he is Abdullah ibn Amr al-Muzani" instead of Abdullah ibn al-Mughaffal (p. 161).
  • The editors note a disagreement on some of the Weepers' names and refer to al-Zurqani's commentary on al-Mawahib (note p. 161), and to al-Zurqani's reading "Yamin ibn Amr" instead of "Yamin ibn Umayr" for the camel-giver's name (note p. 161).
  • Ibn Ishaq says "it reached me" for the Ibn Yamin story — i.e. a report without a chain (p. 161).

Connections

Had participant
Abdullah ibn al-Mughaffal al-MuzaniAbu Layla Abd al-Rahman ibn Ka'bAmr ibn Humam ibn al-JamuhHarami ibn AbdullahIrbad ibn Sariya al-FazariSalim ibn UmayrUlba ibn ZaydYamin ibn Umayr al-NadriMuhammad
Part of
The expedition to Tabuk
Occurred at
Medina

People and things also explored

al-Jadd ibn Qays asks leave to stay behindThe builders of the mosque ask the Prophet to pray in itThe Prophet orders the people to prepare to fight the ByzantinesThe three who were left behind after TabukUthman funds the army of hardshipThe expedition to TabukMuhammadMedina

Sources

  1. al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936), 4/161-162
  2. al-Sira al-Nabawiyya — Ibn Hisham, al-Saqqa edition (1355/1936), 4/161
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Weepers: seven who asked to be carried”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/the-weepers-al-bakkaun/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Accessed 2026-10-12.

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al-Jadd ibn Qays asks leave to stay behind

Al-Jadd ibn Qays of Banu Salima asked the Prophet whether he had any part in fighting the Banu al-Asfar, meaning the Byzantines, and excused himself as a man too fond of women who feared temptation; the Prophet turned away from him and gave him leave. Ibn Ishaq says a verse of Sura al-Tawba was revealed about him, explaining that his falling into temptation by staying behind was greater than what he feared.