The reciter: And in the context of the hadith of Ka'b, he said:
" By Allah, I never possessed so good means, and I never had such favourable conditions for me as I had when I stayed behind you (failed to join the expedition). Thereupon, Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: This man told the truth, so get up until Allah gives a decision in your case. I stood up and some people of Banu' Salama followed me in hot haste, and they said to me: By Allah, we do not know about you that you committed a sin prior to this. You, however, showed inability to put forward an excuse before Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) as those who stayed behind him have put forward excuses. It would have been enough for the forgiveness of your sin that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) would have sought forgiveness for you. By Allah, they continued to incite me until I thought of going back to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and contradict myself. Then I said to them: Has anyone else also met the same fate? They said: Yes, two persons have met the same fate as has fallen to you and they have made the sane statement as you have made, and the same verdict has been delivered in their case as it has been delivered in your case. I said: Who are they? They said: Murara b. ar-Rabi'a 'Amiri and Hilal b. Umayya al-Waqafi. They made a mention of these two pious persons to me who had participated in the Battle of Badr and there was an example for me in them. I went away when they named these two persons. Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) forbade the Nluslims to talk with three of us from amongst those (persons) who had stayed behind him. The people began to avoid us and their attitude towards us underwent a change and it seemed as if the whole atmosphere had turned (hostile) against us and it was in fact the same atmosphere ot which I was fully aware and in which I had lived (for a fairly long time). We spent fifty nights in this very state and my two friends
والله ما كنت قط أقوى ولا أيسر مني حين تخلفت عنك ، قال : فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : أما هذا فقد صدق ، فقم حتى يقضي الله فيك . وسار رجال من بني سلمة فاتبعوني فقالوا لي : والله ما علمناك أذنبت ذنبا قبل هذا لقد عجزت في أن لا تكون اعتذرت إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم بما اعتذر به المخلفون ، فقد كان كافيك ذنبكَ استغفار رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لك . قال : فوالله ما زالوا يؤنبونني حتى أردت أن أرجع إلى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فأُكذب نفسي ، ثم قلت لهم : هل لقي هذا معي مِن أحد ؟ قالوا : نعم ، لقيه معك رجلان قالا مثل ما قلت ، وقيل لهما مثل ما قيل لك ، قال : قلت : من هما ؟ قالوا : مِرارة بن الربيع العَمْري ، وهلال بن أمية الواقِفي . قال : فذكروا لي رجلين صالحين قد شهدا بدرا فيهما أسوة ، قال : فمضيت حين ذكروهما لي . ونهى رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن كلامنا أيها الثلاثة من بين من تخلف عنه ، فاجتنبنا الناس -أو قال : تغيروا لنا- حتى تنكرت لي في نفسي الأرض ، فما هي بالأرض التي أعرف ، فلبثنا على ذلك خمسين ليلة ، فأما صاحباي .
