Whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out on a journey and mounted his riding camel, he would point with his finger, and Shuba (one of the narrators of the hadith) extended his finger to demonstrate, and he would say, "O Allah, You are the Companion on the journey and the Guardian over the family. O Allah, accompany us with Your good counsel and return us under Your protection. O Allah, fold up the earth for us and make the journey easy for us. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the hardships of travel and the gloom of return."
كان رسول الله ﷺ إذا سافر فركب راحلته قال بأصبعه- ومد شعبة (أحد رواة الحديث) بإصبعه- قال: اللهم أنت الصاحب في السفر والخليفة في الأهل، اللهم اصحبنا بنصحك واقلبنا بذمة، اللهم ازو لنا الأرض، وهون علينا السفر، اللهم إني أعوذ بك من وعثاء السفر وكآبة المنقلب.
Tirmidhi (3438), Nasai (5501), and Ibn Sunni in Amal al-Yawm wal-Layla (499) all reported it through the route of Shubah, from Abdullah bin Bishr Khathami, from Abu Zura, from Abu Hurairah, and he mentioned it. Tirmidhi said, "This is a hasan gharib hadith from the hadith of Abu Hurairah." I say, it is as he said, for Abdullah bin Bishr Khathami is hasan al-hadith.Abu Dawud (2598), Ahmad (9599), and Nasai in Amal al-Yawm wal-Layla (500) all reported it through routes from Yahya (that is, Ibn Qattan), from Muhammad bin Ajlan, from Saeed Maqburi, from Abu Hurairah, similarly. This chain is also hasan on account of Muhammad bin Ajlan, for he is hasan al-hadith.