Takhrij Hadith 807: ""O Rabiʿah, will you not…"

"O Rabiʿah, will you not get married?" I replied: "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah. I do not wish to marry. I have nothing with which to support a wife, and I do not want anything to distract me from serving you". He turned away from me. Later he said again: "O Rabiʿah, will you not get married?" I replied: "No, by Allah, O Messenger of Allah. I do not wish to marry. I have nothing with which to support a wife, and I do not want anything to distract me from serving you". He again turned away from me. Then I reflected to myself and said: "By Allah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ knows better than I do what is good for me in this world and the Hereafter". I also said to myself: "If he asks me a third time, I will certainly answer: 'Yes.'" So he asked me a third time: "O Rabiʿah, will you not get married?" I replied: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah. Command me as you wish". He said: "Go to the family of so-and-so, a clan of the Ansar who have kept somewhat distant from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and say to them: 'The Messenger of Allah ﷺ conveys his greetings to you and instructs you to marry Rabiʿah to so-and-so' referring to one of their women". I went to them and conveyed the message. They said: "Welcome to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to the messenger of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ! By Allah, the messenger of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ will not return without having his request fulfilled". They honored me, married me to her, and treated me with great kindness. They did not even ask me for proof. I returned feeling distressed. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ asked: "What is the matter with you?" I replied: "O Messenger of Allah, I came to generous people. They married me to her, honored me, and treated me kindly without even asking for proof. But where am I to get the dowry?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Buraydah al-Aslamy: "O Buraydah, collect for him an amount of gold equal to the weight of a date-stone". They collected that amount of gold for me, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "Take this to them and say: 'This is her dowry'". I took it to them and said: "This is her dowry". They replied: "A generous and excellent gift". They accepted it gladly. I then said: "How shall I prepare the wedding feast?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "O Buraydah, collect a sheep for him". They collected a fat ram. The Prophet ﷺ then said: "Go to ‘Aisha and tell her: 'Look at the basket containing the food and send it'". I went to ‘Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) and conveyed his message. She said: "Here is the basket. It contains seven saʿs of barley. By Allah, we have no other food besides it this morning". I took it to the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "Take it to them and tell them to bake it into bread". I brought them the barley and the ram. They accepted the food and said: "You take care of preparing the ram". Some men from Aslam came, slaughtered it, skinned it, and cooked it. We had bread and meat, and I held the wedding feast. I invited the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Later, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ granted me a piece of land, and he also granted Abu Bakr a piece of land. We later disagreed over the boundary of a date-palm cluster. This happened after worldly prosperity had come to us. Abu Bakr said: "It lies within my boundary". I replied: "No, it lies within mine". Abu Bakr then spoke a word to me which I disliked, and he immediately regretted it. He said: "O Rabiʿah, say to me what I said to you, so that we will be even". I replied: "By Allah, I will say nothing to you except good". He insisted: "You must say to me what I said to you so that there will be equal retaliation, otherwise I will take the matter to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ". I answered: "By Allah, I will say nothing to you except good". Abu Bakr then left the land and went to the Prophet ﷺ. I followed after him. Some men from Aslam said: "May Allah have mercy on Abu Bakr! He is the one who spoke as he did, yet he is going to complain about you?" I said: "Do you know who this is? This is Abu Bakr, the second of the two in the cave, the elder among the Muslims. Beware that he should turn and see you supporting me against him, for he may become angry and go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would become angry because of his anger, and Allah would become angry because of the anger of both of them, and Rabiʿah would be ruined". So they withdrew and left me alone. I continued following him until he came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and related what had happened. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "O Rabiʿah, what is between you and al-Siddiq?" I related the incident exactly as it had happened. He said to me: "Say to him what he said to you". But I refused. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Very well. Do not say to him what he said to you. Instead say: 'May Allah forgive you, O Abu Bakr'". So I said: "May Allah forgive you, O Abu Bakr". Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) then turned away weeping.