Whenever the Prophet ﷺ returned from a journey, he would begin by going to the mosque, where he would pray two cycles of prayer, then sit to receive the people.Ibn Sarh continued the narration. He said, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade the Muslims from speaking with the three of us. When this dragged on for me, I climbed over the wall of Abu Qatada's garden, who is my cousin, and greeted him with peace. By Allah, he did not return my greeting.Then I prayed the dawn prayer on the morning of the fiftieth night atop the roof of one of our houses, and I heard a caller crying out, "Kaab bin Malik, rejoice!" When the man whose voice I had heard giving the good news came to me, I took off my two garments and gave them to him as a gift.I set out until I entered the mosque, and there was the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sitting. Talha bin Ubaydullah rose and hurried toward me until he shook my hand and congratulated me.
حدثنا ابن السرح أخبرنا ابن وهب أخبرني يونس عن ابن شهاب قال أخبرني عبد الرحمن بن عبد الله بن كعب بن مالك أن عبد الله بن كعب قال سمعت
كان النبي ﷺ إذا قدم من سفر بدأ بالمسجد فركع فيه ركعتين ثم جلس للناس وقص ابن السرح الحديث قال ونهى رسول الله ﷺ المسلمين عن كلامنا أيها الثلاثة حتى إذا طال علي تسورت جدار حائط أبي قتادة وهو ابن عمي فسلمت عليه فوالله ما رد علي السلام ثم صليت الصبح صباح خمسين ليلة على ظهر بيت من بيوتنا فسمعت صارخا يا كعب بن مالك أبشر فلما جاءني الذي سمعت صوته يبشرني نزعت له ثوبي فكسوتهما إياه فانطلقت حتى إذا دخلت المسجد فإذا رسول الله ﷺ جالس فقام إلي طلحة بن عبيد الله يهرول حتى صافحني وهنأني
Muslim, Tawbah, chapter on the hadith of the repentance of Kaab bin Malik and his two companions, no. 2769, from Ibn Sarh. And Bukhari, Tafsir, Surah Baraah, chapter on His saying, "Allah has indeed turned in mercy to the Prophet, the migrants, and the helpers," no. 4676, in a very abridged form, from the hadith of Ibn Wahb, with the same wording.