English Translation

Yazid told us, Hisham informed us, from Muhammad, who said: I entered the congregational mosque, and Amr ibn Wahb al-Thaqafi had entered from the other side. We met near the middle of the mosque, and he began telling me the hadith — he liked the good he conveyed to me — so he began the hadith, saying: We were with al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah — and this increased my confidence in what he related — and he said: We asked, "Has any man of this nation led the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in prayer, other than Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, may God be pleased with him?" He said, "Yes. We were on such-and-such a journey, and when it was near dawn the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, struck the neck of his mount and set off, and I followed him. He disappeared from me for a while, then came back and said, 'Your need?' I said, 'I have no need, O Messenger of God.' He said, 'Is there any water?' I said, 'Yes,' and I poured it for him. He washed his hands, then washed his face, then went to bare his forearms — he was wearing a Syrian cloak — but it was too tight, so he put his hands in and brought them out from under the cloak. He washed his face and washed his forearms, and wiped his forelock, and wiped over the turban and over the leather socks. Then we caught up with the people, and the prayer had already been established, with Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf leading them, having prayed one rak'ah. I went to inform him, but he forbade me. So we prayed the rak'ah we caught, and made up the one we had missed." Aswad ibn Amir told us, Jarir ibn Hazim told us, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, who said: A man told me, from Amr ibn Wahb, meaning he mentioned something similar.