Pause and reflect upon the Companions, the scholars, and the eminent figures of our history.
A new challenge: who am I?
I am a Companion from among the youths of the Ansar.
I embraced Islam before the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, arrived in Medina.
Then, I pledged allegiance to him upon his arrival there.
I was always in the outskirts, tending to my small flock of sheep.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, gave me the choice to pledge allegiance as a Bedouin or as a Muhajir (emigrant).
I replied, "Rather, the pledge of the Muhajirin."
Then I went out to my sheep to tend to them.
There were twelve of us who had embraced Islam, living far from Medina.
We would graze our sheep in the surrounding wilderness.
We agreed that one of us would go to Medina each day.
He would leave his sheep with us for us to tend to them for him.
When he returned, we would learn from him what he had learned.
I said to them, "Go to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him."
"I will stay here and tend to your sheep along with my own."
I was extremely diligent in caring for them.
My companions began going back and forth to the Prophet, peace be upon him.
While I remained tending the sheep.
Until I took myself to task and said,
"Woe to you! For the sake of a few sheep that neither fatten nor nourish,"
"Will you miss out on the companionship of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?"
"And taking the Qur'an directly from his lips?"
Then I abandoned my sheep and set off for Medina.
To reside in the mosque, adjacent to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
I kept close company with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him.
He would often have me ride behind him on his mount.
To the point that I became known as the one who rode behind the Prophet, peace be upon him.
On one occasion,
I was holding the reins of the mule of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
While he was riding it.
We were traveling through the outskirts of Medina.
He said to me, "Will you not ride?"
I felt too much reverence for the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, to ride in his place.
He repeated the offer to me three times.
I intended to say no,
But I feared that doing so might be an act of disobedience.
So I said, "Yes."
He dismounted, I rode for a brief moment, and then I dismounted.
Then the Prophet, peace be upon him, mounted again.
Then he said to me,
"Shall I not teach you two surahs the likes of which have never been seen?"
I said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah."
So he recited to me,
“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of the Daybreak” (113:1)
"Say, I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind."
Then the prayer was called.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, stepped forward,
And recited them in the prayer.
Then he said to me,
"Recite them whenever you go to sleep and whenever you wake."
Because of my constant attendance upon the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him,
I learned the Qur'an from him,
Until I became one of the reciters.
I was known for my beautiful voice in reciting it.
Often, the Commander of the Faithful, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him,
Would ask me to recite some of the Qur'an to him.
And when I would recite, he would weep, may Allah be pleased with him.
When death approached me,
I gathered my sons and advised them, saying,
"O my sons,"
"I forbid you from three things:"
"Do not accept a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, except from a trustworthy source,"
"Do not incur debt, even if you have to wear a patched cloak,"
"And do not write poetry,"
"Lest you become preoccupied with it and neglect the Qur'an."
So, who am I?