Jābir's Camel

During this ghazwah an interesting conversation happened between Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh was riding a feeble, weak camel, and his comrades were getting ahead of him, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) approached him and said, "What's wrong, Jābir?" So he said, "O Messenger of Allah, this camel of mine is slowing me down." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him, "Make it kneel." And then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) also made his camel kneel, and he dismounted and told Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, "Give me that stick of yours, or get one for me from a tree." So Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh gave him the stick. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) prodded the camel with that stick, and then he told Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh, "Mount up." Jābir mounted the camel; he said, "My weak camel was now competing with the fast camel of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)." So this is a miracle of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that occurred in this ghazwah: by just placing, or prodding, the camel with that stick, it suddenly became vigorous and strong.

And then Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh was conversing with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); they were talking, so the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) told him, "Would you sell me this camel of yours, Jābir?" So now the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) likes the camel and he wants to buy it. Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh said, "I'll just give it to you. The reason why it's fast now is because of you, so I'll just give it up; I'll give it to you." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "No, I want to buy it; just sell it to me." Jābir said, "Make me an offer." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "One dirham." He said, "No way, Messenger of Allah — taghbinunī." Ghabn means "you would be cheating me." Obviously he doesn't literally mean it here; he was joking with the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). He said, "You would be cheating me if that's the deal you're offering me." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "Then I'll give you two dirhams." He said, "More," and he kept on raising the price on the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) until the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) offered one ounce of gold, and then he said, "Would that be agreeable to you?" He said, "Yes." Then Jābir said, "Then it's all yours."