The Messenger of Allah ﷺ led us in prayer, then turned his face toward us and said, "While a man was driving a cow, he climbed onto its back and struck it. The cow said, 'We were not created for this. We were created only for plowing.'"The people exclaimed, "Glory be to Allah, a cow that speaks!"He said, "I believe in this, and so do Abu Bakr and Umar," though neither of them was present."And while a man was tending his sheep, a wolf came upon them and seized one of them. The man pursued the wolf and caught up with it, rescuing the sheep from its grip. The wolf said to him, 'You have rescued it from me today, but who will protect it on the day of the wild beasts, the day when it will have no shepherd but me?'"The people exclaimed, "Glory be to Allah, a wolf that speaks!"He said, "I believe in that, and so do Abu Bakr and Umar," though neither of them was present.
حدثنا سفيان عن أبي الزناد عن الأعرج عن أبي سلمة
صلى بنا رسول الله ﷺ صلاة ثم أقبل علينا بوجهه فقال بينا رجل يسوق بقرة إذ ركبها فضربها قالت إنا لم نخلق لهذا إنما خلقنا للحراثة فقال الناس سبحان الله بقرة تتكلم فقال فإني أومن بهذا أنا وأبو بكر غدا غدا وعمر وما هما ثم وبينا رجل في غنمه إذ عدا عليها الذئب فأخذ شاة منها فطلبه فأدركه فاستنقذها منه فقال يا هذا استنقذتها مني فمن لها يوم السبع يوم لا راعي لها غيري قال الناس سبحان الله ذئب يتكلم فقال إني أومن بذلك وأبو بكر وعمر وما هما ثم
Its chain of transmission is sahih. Abu Salama is the son of Abdul-Rahman bin Awf. This is an instance of a peer narrating from a peer, since Aaraj was a peer of Abu Salama, because he shared with him most of his teachers, especially Abu Hurairah, even though Abu Salama was older in age than Aaraj, as the Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari.Bukhari related the hadith, 6:375, from Ali bin Madini, from Sufyan bin Uyayna, with this same chain. Muslim also related it, 2:232, through Sufyan, but he did not quote its wording, referring instead to the narration before it. Bukhari also related it, 6:5, and 7:19-21, and Muslim, 2:321 and 232, through other routes.Regarding the phrase "he prepared a meal" (ghada ghadaan), this is how it appears in the three source manuscripts here. It is not mentioned in manuscript S, which we described when introducing the Musnad of Abu Hurairah earlier, 6:519-520, nor have I seen it in any of the narrations I have examined of this hadith.Regarding the phrase "the day of the sabu", this is with fatha on the sin and damma on the ba, and it is vocalized this way only in the Yunini manuscript of Bukhari, 4:174, of the Sultani edition. It is also vocalized with damma in Sahih Muslim, in the manuscript of Shaykh Abid Sindi, but it is vocalized with sukun on the ba in the manuscript of Shatti. It is vocalized with both damma and sukun in the Astana edition, 110-111.Qadi Iyad said in Mashariq Anwar, 2:205, "This is how we transmitted it, with damma on the ba. Harbi said, it is also transmitted with sukun on it, meaning the wild beast (sabu). Hasan read, "and what the wild beast has eaten" with sukun."Nawawi said in his commentary on Muslim, 15:156-157, "Sabu has been transmitted with both damma and sukun on the ba, though the majority hold to damma. The Qadi, meaning Iyad, said the transmission is with damma."The Hafiz said in Fath al-Bari, 7:20, "Iyad said, both damma and sukun on the ba are permissible, though the transmission is with damma. Harbi said, it is with both damma and sukun."This concerns the transmission. As for the meaning, Ibn Athir said, "Ibn Arabi said, sabu, with sukun on the ba, refers to the place to which people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection. Sabu can also mean terror, as in 'I terrified so-and-so' (sabaatu fulanan), meaning I frightened him, and 'the wolf preyed on the sheep' (sabaa al-dhibu al-ghanam), meaning it tore them apart, that is, who will care for them on the day of terror. It has been said that this interpretation is undermined by the wolf's statement at the end of the hadith, 'the day when there is no shepherd for them but me,' since the wolf cannot be their shepherd on the Day of Resurrection.It has also been said that what is meant is who will care for them during periods of turmoil, when people abandon them to roam freely with no shepherd, becoming prey for wolves and beasts of prey, so the wild beast is made their shepherd, since it alone has charge of them. In that case it would be with damma on the ba. This is a warning about the hardships and turmoil that will come, in which people will neglect their livestock, so that beasts of prey will gain mastery over them with nothing to stop them."Abu Musa said, with his own chain from Abu Ubayda, "The day of the sabu was a festival they had in pre-Islamic times, during which they occupied themselves with their celebration and amusement. It is not the sabu that preys on people." He said, "Abu Amir Abdari the Hafiz dictated it with damma on the ba, and he was a man of great learning and precision."In what Ibn Arabi said there is considerable strain, and likewise in what Abu Ubayda said. What is correct in my view is that it is with damma on the ba, which is also what Nawawi favored in his commentary on Muslim, namely that it concerns times of turmoil, when people abandon their livestock to roam freely with no shepherd, becoming prey for beasts of prey, so the wild beast is made their shepherd, that is, having sole charge of them.Regarding the phrase "and neither of them was there" (wa ma huma thamma), with fatha on the tha, meaning the two of them were not present. The Hafiz said this is part of the narrator's own words, that is, the words of Abu Hurairah, as he was describing the gathering and what took place in it.In this there is a great mark of honor for the two elders, Abu Bakr and Umar. For when those present found strange what went against the norm, not intending by that any denial, the Prophet informed them that the two elders, owing to the perfection of their faith, the tranquility of their hearts, and the loftiness of their understanding, would believe whatever he said without hesitation or astonishment, because of what they knew of Allah's power, and what they were certain of regarding the truthfulness of His Messenger, who does not speak from his own desire.