9/21 ــ وعَنْ عَبْدِ الله بنِ كَعْبِ بنِ مَالكٍ، وكَانَ قائِدَ كَعْبٍ رضي الله عنه مِن بَنِيهِ حِينَ عَمِيَ، قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ كَعْبَ بنَ مَالكٍ رضي الله عنه يُحَدِّثُ بحَدِيثِهِ حِينَ تَخَلَّفَ عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في غَزْوَةِ تَبُوكَ. قَالَ كَعْبٌ: لَمْ أتَخَلَّف عَن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في غَزْوَةٍ غَزَاهَا قَطُّ إلَّا في غَزْوَةِ تَبُوكَ، غَيْرَ أنِّي قَدْ تَخَلَّفْتُ في غَزْوَةِ بَدْرٍ، وَلَمْ يُعَاتَبْ أحَدٌ تَخَلَّفَ عَنْهُ، إنَّمَا خَرَجَ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم والمُسْلمُونَ يُريدُونَ عِيْرَ قرَيْشٍ حَتَّىٰ جَمَعَ الله تَعَالَىٰ بَيْنَهُمْ وبَيْنَ عَدُوّهِمْ عَلَىٰ غَيْرِ ميعَادٍ. ولَقَدْ شَهدْتُ مَعَ رسولِ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم لَيْلَةَ العَقَبَةِ حِينَ تَوَاثَقْنَا عَلَىٰ الإسْلامِ، ومَا أُحِبُّ أَنَّ لِي بِهَا مَشْهَدَ بَدْرٍ، وإنْ كانَتْ بَدْرٌ أذْكَرَ في النَّاسِ مِنْهَا. وكَانَ مِن خَبَرِي حِينَ تَخَلَّفْتُ عَنْ رسولِ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في غَزْوَةِ تَبُوكَ؛ أنِّي لَمْ أَكُنْ قَطُّ أقْوىٰ وَلا أَيْسَرَ مِنِّي حِينَ تَخَلَّفْتُ عَنْهُ في تِلْكَ الْغَزْوَةِ، وَاللهِ مَا جَمَعْتُ قَبْلَهَا رَاحِلَتَيْنِ قَطُّ حَتَّىٰ جَمَعْتُهُمَا في تِلْكَ الْغَزْوَةِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يُرِيدُ غَزْوَةً إلَّا ورَّىٰ بِغَيْرِهَا، حَتَّىٰ كَانَتْ تِلْكَ الْغَزْوَةُ، فَغَزَاهَا رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم في حَرٍّ شَدِيدٍ، وَاسْتَقْبَلَ سَفَراً بَعِيداً وَمَفَازاً، وَاسْتَقْبَلَ عَدَداً كَثِيراً، فَجَلَّىٰ للْمُسْلِمِينَ أَمْرَهُمْ ليتَأهَّبُوا أُهْبَةَ غَزْوِهِمْ، فَأَخْبَرَهُمْ بوَجْهِهِمُ الَّذي يُريدُ، وَالْمُسْلِمُونَ مَعَ رسولِ الله كثِيرٌ وَلا يَجْمَعُهُمْ كِتَابٌ حَافِظٌ (يُريدُ بذلِكَ الدِّيوَانَ). قالَ كَعْبٌ: فَقَلَّ رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يَتَغَيَّبَ إلَّا ظَنَّ أَنَّ ذلِكَ سَيَخْفَىٰ بِهِ مَا لَمْ يَنْزِل فيهِ وَحْيٌ مِنَ الله ، وَغَزَا رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم تِلْكَ الْغَزْوَةَ حِينَ طَابَت الثَمَارُ والظِّلالُ، فَأنَا إِلَيْهَا أصْعَرُ. فَتَجَهَّزَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وَالْمُسْلِمُونَ مَعَهُ، وَطَفِقْتُ أَغْدُو لِكَيْ أَتَجَهَّز مَعَهُ، فأَرْجعُ وَلَمْ أَقْضِ شَيْئاً، وَأَقُولُ في نَفْسي: أنَا قَادِرٌ عَلَىٰ ذلكَ إذَا أرَدْتُ، فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَتَمَادَىٰ بي حَتَّىٰ اسْتَمَرَّ بالنَّاسِ الْجِدُّ، فأَصْبَحَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم غَادِياً وَالْمُسْلِمُونَ مَعَهُ، وَلَمْ أقْضِ مِنْ جِهَازِي شَيْئاً، ثُمَّ غَدَوْتُ فَرَجَعْتُ وَلَمْ أقْضِ شَيْئاً، فَلَمْ يَزَلْ يَتَمَادَىٰ بي حَتّىٰ أسْرَعُوا وَتَفَارَطَ الْغَزْوُ، فَهَمَمْتُ أَنْ أرْتَحِلَ فَأُدْرِكَهُمْ، فَيَالَيْتَني فَعَلْتُ، ثُمَّ لَمْ يُقَدَّرْ ذَلِكَ لِي، فَطَفِقْتُ إذَا خَرَجْتُ في النَّاسِ بَعْدَ خُرُوجِ رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يَحْزُنُنِي أَنِّي لا أرَىٰ لِي أُسْوَةً، إلا رَجُلاً مَغْمُوصاً عَلَيْه في النِّفَاقِ، أوْ رَجُلاً مِمَّنْ عَذَرَ اللهُ تعالَىٰ مِنَ الضُّعَفَاءِ، وَلَمْ يَذْكُرْني رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم حَتَّىٰ بَلَغَ تَبُوكَ، فقالَ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ في القَوْمِ بِتَبُوكَ: «ما فَعَلَ كَعْبُ بْنُ مَالكٍ؟» فقالَ رَجُلٌ مِنْ بَنِي سَلِمَةَ: يا رسولَ الله حَبَسَهُ بُرْدَاهُ، وَالنَّظَرُ في عِطْفَيْهِ، فقالَ لَهُ مُعَاذُ ابْنُ جَبَلٍ رضي الله عنه: بِئْسَ ما قُلْتَ! وَاللهِ يا رسولَ الله مَا عَلِمْنَا عَلَيْهِ إلَّا خَيْراً، فَسَكَتَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم . فَبَيْنَا هُوَ عَلَىٰ ذلِكَ رَأىٰ رجُلاً مُبْيِضاً يَزُولُ بهِ السَّرَابُ، فقالَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم : «كُنْ أبَا خَيْثَمَةَ»، فَإذَا هُوَ أبُو خَيْثَمَةَ الأَنْصَارِيُّ، وَهُوَ الَّذي تَصَدَّقَ بِصَاعِ التَّمْرِ حِينَ لَمَزهُ المنَافِقُونَ، قَالَ كَعْبٌ: فَلَمَّا بَلَغَنِي أنَّ رسولَ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قَدْ تَوَجَّهَ قَافِلاً مِنْ تَبُوكَ حَضَرَني بَثِّي، فَطَفِقْتُ أَتَذَكَّرُ الْكَذِبَ وَأقُولُ: بِمَ أَخرُجُ مِنْ سَخَطِهِ غَداً؟ وَأَسْتَعِينُ عَلَىٰ ذلكَ بِكُلِّ ذِي رَأْيٍ مِنْ أَهْلِي، فَلَمَّا قِيلَ: إنَّ رسولَ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قَدْ أَظَلَّ قادِماً زَاحَ عَنِّي الْبَاطِلُ، حَتَّىٰ عَـرَفْتُ أنِّي لَم أَنْجُ مِنْهُ بِشَيْءٍ أَبَداً، فَأَجْمَعْتُ صِدْقَهُ، وَأَصْبَحَ رسولُ الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قَادِماً، وكَانَ إذا قَدِمَ مِنْ سَفَرٍ بَدَأَ بالْمَسْجِدِ فَرَكَعَ فِيهِ رَكْعَتَيْنِ ثُمَّ جَلَسَ لِلنَّاسِ، فَلَمَّا فَعَلَ ذلِكَ جَاءَهُ الْمُخَلَّفُون يَعْتَذِرُونَ إلَيْهِ وَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ، وَكَانُوا بِضْعَاً وَثَمَانِينَ رَجُلاً، فَقبِلَ مِنْهُمْ عَلانِيَتَهُمْ، وَبَايَعَهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمْ، وَوَكَلَ سَرَائِرَهُمْ إلَىٰ الله تَعَالَىٰ حَتَّىٰ جِئْتُ. فَلَمَّا سَلَّمْتُ تَبَسَّمَ تَبَسُّمَ الْمُغْضَبِ، ثُمَّ قَالَ: تَعَالَ، فَجِئْتُ أَمْشِي حَتَّىٰ جَلَسْتُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ، فقالَ لِي: «مَا خَلَّفَكَ؟ ألمْ تكُنْ قَدِ ابْتَعْتَ ظَهْرَكَ!» قَالَ: قُلْتُ: يَا رسولَ الله إنِّي واللهِ لَوْ جَلَسْتُ عِنْدَ غَيْركَ مِنْ أَهْلِ الدُّنْيَا لَرَأَيْتُ أَنِّي سَأَخْرُجُ منْ سَخَطِهِ بِعُذْرٍ ؟ لَقَدْ أُعْطِيتُ جَدَلاً، وَلكِنَّنِي وَاللهِ لَقَدْ عَلِمْتُ لَئِنْ حَدَّثْتُكَ الْيَوْمَ حَدِيثُ كَذبٍ تَرْضَىٰ بِه عَنِّي لَيُوشِكَنَّ اللهُ يُسْخِطُكَ عَلَيَّ، وَإنْ حَدَّثْتُكَ حَدِيثَ صِدْقٍ تَجِدُ عَلَيَّ فِيهِ إنِّي لأَرْجُو فِيهِ عُقْبَىٰ الله _عز وجل_، وَاللهِ مَا كَانَ لِي مِنْ عُذْرٍ، وَاللهِ مَا كُنْتُ قَطُّ أَقْوَىٰ وَلا أَيْسَرَ مِنِّي حِينَ تَخَلَّفْتُ عَنْكَ.
The Narrator
Abdullah ibn Ka’b ibn Malik — the son who guided his father after Ka’b went blind — narrates that he heard Ka’b ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) recount the story of his remaining behind from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ during the expedition of Tabuk.
Full Translation — The Story in Ka’b’s Own Words
The Departure He Missed:
“I never stayed behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in any battle he fought — except the battle of Tabuk. I did miss the Battle of Badr, but Allah did not reproach anyone who had not participated in it. And I was present at the night of al-Aqabah when we pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I would not exchange that night for the Battle of Badr.
As for my news in this battle — I had never been stronger or wealthier than I was when I stayed behind. By Allah, I had never owned two camels at once before, but at the time of this expedition I owned two. Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ intended a battle, he would conceal it — until this time, when he announced the destination openly because the journey was long, the heat was severe, and the enemy was great.
So the Prophet ﷺ informed the Muslims clearly of where they were heading so they could prepare. I began going out to get ready alongside the people — and then I returned without having done anything. I said to myself: I can do that later. I kept delaying — until the people were fully prepared and the army departed.
I thought about going out to join them — but it was not written for me. And I would walk through Madinah and feel grief when I walked among the people, for I saw no one around me except someone known for hypocrisy, or someone Allah had excused due to genuine weakness.”
The Return and the Decision:
“When I heard that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was on his way back, I became overwhelmed with concern. I began thinking of false excuses — saying to myself: what will save me from his anger tomorrow? I even sought the advice of wise members of my family.
But when it was said that the Prophet ﷺ was close, every false excuse I had been constructing collapsed from my mind. I knew clearly that I could never emerge from this by forging a lie. So I made a firm decision: I would tell the truth.
The Prophet ﷺ arrived in the morning. Whenever he returned from a journey, he would go first to the masjid and pray two rak’ahs, then sit for the people. The men who had stayed behind — more than eighty of them — came and began offering their excuses and taking oaths before him. The Prophet ﷺ accepted their outward reasons, sought forgiveness for them, and left their inner realities to Allah.
Then I came. When I greeted him, he smiled the smile of a man who is angry — and said: Come forward. I walked forward until I sat before him. He said: What kept you back? Did you not buy your mount? I said: O Messenger of Allah — by Allah, if I were sitting before any man of the world, I could escape his anger with an excuse — for I have been given a share of eloquence. But by Allah, I know that if I told you a lie today to please you, Allah would soon cause you to be angry with me. And if I told you the truth — and you became angry at me for it — I would still hope for good from Allah. There is no excuse. I stayed behind with full ability and no justification.
The Prophet ﷺ said: As for this one — he has told the truth. Stand until Allah judges concerning you.”
The Boycott — Fifty Days:
“The people of Madinah began to avoid us — the three of us who had told the truth — and they changed toward us, until the very earth felt different to me, as though it were not the same earth I had always known.
We remained in this state for fifty nights. My two companions stayed in their homes, weeping. I was the youngest and the strongest of the three, so I would go out, attend the prayers with the Muslims, walk the markets — but no one would speak to me.
I would go to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ after the prayer and greet him — watching carefully to see whether his lips moved in return. Then I would pray near him and steal glances at him: when I was in prayer he would look at me, and when I turned to look at him he would turn his face away.
When the harshness of the isolation became severe, I climbed over the wall to Abu Qatadah — who was my cousin and most beloved of people to me — and greeted him. By Allah, he did not return my greeting. I said: O Abu Qatadah — I ask you by Allah, do you not know that I love Allah and His Messenger? He remained silent. I asked again. He said: Allah and His Messenger know best. My eyes filled with tears and I turned and climbed back over the wall.
Then a letter reached me from the King of Ghassan, saying: We have heard that your companion has treated you harshly — come to us and we will honour you. When I read it I said: This too is a test. I took it to the oven and burned it.
When forty of the fifty nights had passed, a messenger of the Prophet ﷺ came to me and said: The Messenger of Allah commands you to keep away from your wife. I said: Should I divorce her? He said: No — only keep apart from her, do not approach her. I sent her to her family.
Then the wife of Hilal ibn Umayyah came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, Hilal ibn Umayyah is an old man with no one to serve him — do you permit me to serve him? He said: Yes, but do not let him approach you. She said: By Allah, he has no desire for anything — he has not stopped weeping since this matter began.”
The Morning of the Fiftieth Day:
“When fifty nights had passed — after the fajr prayer on the morning of the fiftieth night, while I was sitting on the roof of one of our dwellings, in the exact state the Quran described — that the earth with all its vastness had constricted around me and my own soul had constricted within me — I heard a voice calling from the peak of Mount Sala’: O Ka’b ibn Malik — glad tidings!
I fell down in prostration. I knew that relief had come.
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ had announced our accepted repentance in the fajr prayer. People rushed out to give us the good news. A man on horseback raced toward me. A man from Banu Aslam ran up the mountain on foot — and his voice reached me before the horse.
When he came, I took off my garments and dressed him in them out of joy — by Allah, I owned no other garments that day. I borrowed two garments, wore them, and went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. People met me in groups, congratulating me, saying: may this accepted repentance be glad tidings for you.
When I entered the masjid, the Prophet ﷺ was sitting surrounded by people. His face was shining — and whenever he was happy, his face would shine as if it were a piece of the moon, and we all knew this about him. I sat before him. He said: Be happy with the best day that has come upon you since your mother gave birth to you.
I said: Is this from you, O Messenger of Allah, or from Allah? He said: No — it is from Allah.
Then I said: O Messenger of Allah — as part of my repentance, I give away all my wealth in charity for the sake of Allah and His Messenger. He said: Keep some of it — it will be better for you. I said: Then I will keep my share in Khaybar.
And I said: O Messenger of Allah — Allah has saved me because of my truthfulness. So my repentance obliges me to speak nothing but the truth for as long as I live. By Allah — I do not know of any Muslim whom Allah has granted a greater blessing of truthfulness since I said that to the Prophet ﷺ than He has granted me. Since the day I said it until today, I have not intended a lie — and I hope that Allah will protect me for the rest of my days.”
And about the three of them Allah revealed:
“And upon the three who were left behind — until the earth with all its vastness constricted around them, and their own souls constricted within them, and they were certain that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. Then He turned to them in mercy so that they could repent. Indeed Allah is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.”
(Surah al-Tawbah, 9:118)
Meanings of Key Words
- Takhallafa (تَخَلَّفَ) — remained behind; not fled, not rebelled — simply did not go, and the weight of that single absence defined fifty of the most important days of his life
- Fasami’tu (فَسَمِعْتُ) — and I heard; the narration begins with Ka’b’s own son — a detail that places us inside a family living with the memory of what truthfulness cost and gave
- La agbiqu (لاَ أَغْبِقُ) — I had no excuse; Ka’b’s clearest sentence — stripped of all the eloquence he was known for, down to its bare truth
- Tabassama tabassuma al-mughdab (تَبَسَّمَ تَبَسُّمَ الْمُغْضَبِ) — he smiled the smile of an angry man; one of the most precise emotional descriptions in the Sunnah — not a full smile, not a frown — the controlled expression of a man containing his displeasure
- Daqat ‘alayya al-ardh bima rahubat (ضَاقَتْ عَلَيَّ الأَرْضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتْ) — the earth constricted around me with all its vastness; the Quran used Ka’b’s own lived experience as its language — this phrase in Surah al-Tawbah describes precisely what he felt
- Khamsoona laylah (خَمْسُونَ لَيْلَةً) — fifty nights; not a symbolic number — fifty real nights, each one longer than the last
- Wajahu yastaniru (وَجْهُهُ يَسْتَنِيرُ) — his face would shine; the companions’ way of knowing the Prophet ﷺ was genuinely, deeply happy — not merely pleased
- Absharir bi-khayri yawm (أَبْشِرْ بِخَيْرِ يَوْمٍ) — be happy with the best day; the Prophet’s ﷺ first words to Ka’b after fifty days of silence — not a rebuke, not a condition — pure glad tidings
- Tawbatan an la aqula illa haqqa (تَوْبَةً أَنْ لاَ أَقُولَ إِلاَّ حَقًّا) — repentance that I speak nothing but truth; Ka’b turned his repentance into a lifelong covenant — the sin was absence, and the cure he chose was permanent truthfulness
Hadith Lessons
This is the longest hadith in Riyad al-Salihin. It is the only hadith in the book that has an entire ayah of Quran revealed specifically about it. And it is not a story about a sinner who committed something shameful in the dark. It is a story about a good man, in a moment of weakness, who chose procrastination over duty — and then, when the moment of accountability came, chose truth over survival.
Every detail matters.
The Trap of “I’ll Do It Tomorrow”
Ka’b was not a hypocrite. He was not trying to avoid the Prophet ﷺ. He was not secretly against Islam. He was strong, wealthy, capable — better equipped than most to make the journey. And his account of what happened is almost painful in its familiarity:
“I began to go out to prepare — and then returned without doing anything. I said to myself: I can do it later. I kept on this way until the people were fully ready and the army had departed.”
This is not extraordinary evil. It is ordinary human delay. He told himself “tomorrow” enough times that the army left without him. And by the time he realised what had happened, the departure was complete and the season had already closed behind it.
The scholars note that Ka’b’s sin was not rebellion or betrayal. It was ghafla — heedlessness. The slow accumulation of “not yet” until the moment passed. In a chapter about repentance, the Prophet ﷺ included this story to make clear: repentance is not only for the dramatically fallen. It is for the person who was simply not fully present when the call came — and who must now face what that cost.
The Moment of Truth — When Eloquence Chose Silence
Ka’b was a poet. He was known for his gift with words. And when the Prophet ﷺ returned and more than eighty men came forward with their rehearsed excuses and sworn oaths — Ka’b could have done the same. He was better at words than most of them.
But when he sat before the Prophet ﷺ he said something that stands as one of the most courageous sentences in the Sunnah:
“By Allah — if I told you a lie today to please you, Allah would soon cause you to be angry with me. And if I told you the truth — and you became angry at me — I would still hope for good from Allah.”
He chose the anger of the Prophet ﷺ in the short term over the anger of Allah in the long term. He chose the uncertainty of honesty over the false safety of a convincing story. And in doing so, he set in motion fifty days of suffering — and the most celebrated repentance in Islamic history.
The lesson is not abstract: truth, even when it is immediately costly, is the only foundation on which genuine repentance can be built. The eighty men who came with false excuses received the outward acceptance of the Prophet ﷺ. Ka’b received fifty days of silence. And then he received an ayah of Quran that will be recited until the end of time.
Fifty Days — What the Isolation Actually Was
Most people read the fifty-day boycott as punishment. It was not punishment. It was a purification — a furnace that burned away everything that was not essential, until only the most real things remained.
Consider what Ka’b describes: walking through his own city unseen. Greeting his cousin and receiving no reply. Standing in salah next to the Prophet ﷺ and being unable to tell whether his greeting was returned. The earth — the same earth he had known his whole life — feeling narrow and strange.
And then the letter from the Ghassanid king arrived, offering honour and refuge. A genuine exit. A real escape from the pain. Ka’b burned it without a second thought. He said: “This too is a test.”
This moment — burning the letter — is where Ka’b’s repentance became complete. The test was not just whether he would stay in the boycott. The test was whether the pressure of the boycott would send him away from the Prophet ﷺ entirely. He burned the letter. He stayed. He endured.
And then his wife was sent away too — the last human comfort removed — and he endured that as well.
By the fiftieth morning, there was nothing left in his life except the bare reality of who he was before Allah. No status, no connection, no comfort, no escape. Just a man on a rooftop, waiting for a verdict from his Lord.
The Shining Face and the Best Day
When the Prophet ﷺ announced the acceptance of their repentance in fajr prayer — Ka’b heard his name called from the mountain top before the horseman could reach him. He fell in prostration immediately. He gave the clothes off his body to the bearer of good news. He walked to the masjid with borrowed garments.
And then the Prophet ﷺ looked at him — face shining like a piece of the moon — and said:
“Be happy with the best day that has come upon you since your mother gave birth to you.”
Ka’b said: Is this from you, or from Allah? The Prophet ﷺ said: No — it is from Allah.
The best day of his life was not the day he wrote his most celebrated poem. It was not the night of al-Aqabah. It was the fiftieth morning, after fifty nights of the hardest silence he had ever known — when Allah turned toward him.
The Covenant He Made With Himself
Ka’b’s response to his forgiveness is one of the most quietly powerful moments in the entire story. He did not just celebrate. He turned the repentance into a permanent covenant:
“O Messenger of Allah — my repentance obliges me to speak nothing but the truth for as long as I live.”
He identified the root. The sin was not cruelty or violence or betrayal. The sin was a moment of weakness that could have been covered with a lie. And he decided: never again. Not because lies had been prohibited before — they always had been. But because he had seen, with devastating clarity, what truth cost him and what it gave him. And he chose it permanently.
Ka’b ibn Malik narrated this story himself, in full, with no detail softened or omitted. He did not sanitise the part about the king’s letter. He did not skip over the part about his cousin refusing to greet him. He did not reduce the fifty days to a vague hardship. He told it completely — because the completeness of the truth was the completion of his repentance.
Three Questions to Close With
- Is there a “Tabuk” in my life — a call I heard, a responsibility I kept delaying with “tomorrow,” that eventually departed without me? What would honest accountability for that look like?
- When I stand before Allah on the Day of Judgement — will I have the record of the eighty who offered convincing excuses and were left to Allah’s private judgement — or the record of Ka’b, who told the truth and received the best day of his life?
- Is there a lie — or a half-truth — that I have been living with about myself, my relationship with Allah, or a wrong I have committed, that I have been maintaining because the truth feels too costly right now?