The Tent of Umm Maʿbad

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr visited a tent. In front of this tent was a woman, an old woman, her name Umm Maʿbad. She was a very generous woman; anybody who would pass by, she would feed them. And when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and Abū Bakr got there, she did not provide them with anything. So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) asked her if she had anything to spare. She said, "If I had anything, you would not have to ask." So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) saw, in the corner of her tent, a very weak goat, and he asked what the problem was with that goat. She said that goat was too weak to go out with the rest of the flock to feed. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Is there any milk in her?" She said, "She is weaker than that." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Will you allow me to milk her?" She said, "Go ahead."

So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) went to milk that goat, and he asked for a big container, not a cup, a big container. And he touched the goat and started milking it, and milk was flowing out until it filled the container, with all this foam on top of the milk. And he gave it to Umm Maʿbad first, so she drank; and then he gave it to Abū Bakr, and ʿĀmir, and ʿAbdullāh ibn Urayqiṭ, and they all drank, and he was the last to drink, and he said, "The servant of the people is the last to drink." So he was the last to drink. And then he left, and there was still a lot of milk in that container.

So the husband of Umm Maʿbad came back with his flock of sheep, and he saw this milk, and he said, "Umm Maʿbad, where did this milk come from?" She said a blessed man visited them, and he was the one who milked the she-goat. He asked her to describe this man to him. Umm Maʿbad gave a description of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that remains until this day as one of the best descriptions ever given about the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), even though she only met him once. Her description of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "I saw him to be a man of evident splendor, fine in figure, his face handsome, slim in form, his head not too small, elegant and good looking, his eyes large and black, his eyelids long, his voice deep, very intelligent, his brows high and arched, his hair in plaits, his neck long and his beard thick. He gave an impression of dignity when silent and of high intelligence when he talked. His words were impressive, and he was decisive, not trivial, not trite; his ideas like pearls moving on their string. He seemed the most splendid and fine looking man from a distance, and the very best of all from close by. Medium in height, the eye not finding him too tall nor too short, a tree branch as it were between two others, but he was the finest looking of the three, the best proportioned. He was the center of his companions' attention: when he spoke, they listened well, and if he ordered, they hurried to obey — a man well helped, well served, never sullen, never refuted." Her husband said, "This man must be Muḥammad, the one whom Quraysh are pursuing. If I meet him, I will pledge allegiance to him and become Muslim." Umm Maʿbad did pledge allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), and she became Muslim.