١٦٨ - باب آداب السير والنزول والمبيت والنوم في السفر واستحباب السرى والرفق بالدواب ومراعاة مصلحتها وأمر من قصر في حقها بالقيام بحقها وجواز الإرداف على الدابة إذا كانت تطيق ذلك

From Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “When you travel through fertile land, give the camels their share of the ground; and when you travel through barren land, hasten the pace with them, and press on before their marrow is spent. When you halt for the night, keep away from the road, for it is the pathway of beasts and the lair of vermin by night.” Narrated by Muslim. The meaning of “give the camels their share of the ground” is: be gentle with them as you travel, so that they may graze while on the move. As for his words “their marrow” (niqyahA) — it is with a kasrah on the nUn, a sukUn on the qAf, and the two-dotted yAʾ — it means the marrow; the sense being: travel swiftly with them so that you reach the destination before their marrow is wasted by the hardship of the journey. And “al-taʿrIs” means halting at night.

And from Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was on a journey and halted during the night, he would lie down on his right side; and when he halted just before dawn, he would prop up his forearm and rest his head upon his palm. Narrated by Muslim. The scholars said: he propped up his forearm only so that he would not sink into deep sleep and so miss the dawn prayer beyond its time, or beyond the beginning of its time.

And from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Take to travelling by night, for the earth is folded up by night.” Narrated by Abu Dawud with a good chain. “Al-dulja” means travelling during the night.

And from Abu Thaʿlabah al-KhushanI (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: The people, when they camped at a halting place, would scatter through the mountain passes and the valleys. So the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Your scattering through these passes and valleys is only from Shaytan!” After that they never camped at a halting place without huddling close to one another. Narrated by Abu Dawud with a good chain.

And from Sahl ibn ʿAmr — it is also said: Sahl ibn al-RabIʿ ibn ʿAmr al-AnsArI, known as Ibn al-Ḥanẓaliyyah, who was among the people of the Pledge of RiḍwAn (may Allah be pleased with him) — who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by a camel whose back had sunk against its belly, and he said: “Fear Allah regarding these dumb beasts; ride them while they are in good condition, and eat them while they are in good condition.” Narrated by Abu Dawud with a sound chain.

And from Abu Jaʿfar ʿAbd Allah ibn Jaʿfar (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) mounted me behind him one day and confided to me a saying that I shall not relate to anyone. The most beloved thing behind which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) liked to screen himself when relieving himself was a raised mound or a thicket of date palms — meaning a walled grove of palms. Narrated by Muslim in this abridged form. Al-BarqAnI added to it, with Muslim’s chain, after his words “a thicket of date palms”: He entered a walled garden belonging to a man of the Ansar, and there was a camel in it. When it saw the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) it groaned and its eyes flowed with tears. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came to it and wiped its upper back — that is, its hump — and its temple-region, and it grew calm. He said: “Who is the owner of this camel? To whom does this camel belong?” A young man of the Ansar came and said: It is mine, O Messenger of Allah. He said: “Will you not fear Allah regarding this beast which Allah has placed in your possession? It has complained to me that you starve it and overwork it.” Narrated by Abu Dawud after the manner of al-BarqAnI’s narration. His words “dhifrAhu”: it is with a kasrah on the dotted dhAl and a sukUn on the fAʾ, and it is a singular feminine word. The people of language said: al-dhifrA is the place on the camel that sweats behind the ear. And his words “tudʾibuhu” mean: you tire it out.

And from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: When we camped at a halting place, we would not perform the voluntary prayer until we had unloaded the saddles. Narrated by Abu Dawud with a chain meeting the conditions of Muslim. As for his words “we would not glorify” — that is, we would not pray the voluntary prayer; its meaning being that we, despite our keenness for the prayer, would not give it precedence over unloading the mounts and giving the animals rest.