The Prophet ﷺ lay awake one night while she was beside him.She said, "I asked, 'What troubles you, Messenger of Allah ﷺ?'"He replied, "If only a righteous man from among my companions would stand guard over me tonight."Just then we heard the sound of weapons.He asked, "Who is there?"The man answered, "I am Saad bin Abu Waqqas. I have come to guard you."The Prophet ﷺ then went to sleep.In another narration, she said, "I heard the snoring of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as he slept."
كان النبي ﷺ سهر ذات ليلة (وهي إلى جنبه) قالت: فقلت: ما شأنك يا رسول الله ﷺ؟ قال: ليت رجلا من أصحابي صالحا يحرسني الليلة إذ سمعنا صوت سلاح فقال: من هذا فقال: أنا سعد بن أبي وقاص، جئت لأحرسك، ونام النبي ﷺ. وفي رواية فسمعت غطيط رسول الله ﷺ من نومه.
Bukhari related it in the Book of Jihad (2885), and Muslim in the Book of the Virtues of the Companions (2410), both from the hadith of Yahya bin Saeed, from Abdullah bin Amir bin Rabia, from Ayesha, who said what has been mentioned. The wording is Bukhari's, and what is in the parentheses was mentioned by Ahmad (25093), who related it by this same route.After the revelation of this noble verse, the Prophet ﷺ ordered the guards to withdraw. Ayesha said, "The Prophet ﷺ used to be guarded until this verse was revealed, "and Allah will protect you from the people" [Maidah 5:67]. So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ put his head out from the tent and said to them, 'O people, withdraw, for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has protected me.'"Tirmidhi related it (3046), as did Ibn Jareer in his Tafsir (8/569), and Hakim (2/313), all of them by way of Muslim bin Ibrahim, who said, Harith bin Ubayd narrated to us, from Saeed Jariri, from Abdullah bin Shaqiq, from Ayesha, who related it.Tirmidhi said, "This is a gharib hadith. Some of them related this hadith from Jareeri, from Abdullah bin Shaqiq, who said, 'The Prophet ﷺ used to be guarded,' without mentioning in it 'from Ayesha.'"Hakim said, "Its chain of transmission is sahih."But the correct view is that it is mursal, as Tirmidhi said. Ibn Jareer related it in his Tafsir through several routes from Ibn Ulayyah, from Jareeri, from Abdullah bin Shaqiq, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to be taken turns guarding by men from among his companions. Then when "and Allah will protect you from the people" [Maidah 5:67] was revealed, he went out and said, "O people, go join your companions, for Allah has protected me from the people."This is more sahih, for Harith bin Ubayd erred in making it a raised hadith, and he has been criticized regarding his memory. Likewise, it has also been related as mursal from Saeed bin Jubayr, Muhammad bin Kaab Qurazi, Rabi bin Anas, and others. These mursal narrations have differing sources, and they strengthen one another.It has also been related as a raised hadith from Abu Saeed Khudri, Jabir bin Abdullah, and Ibn Abbas, but all of these are defective. This is a well-known story found in books of biography and history.Among the ways Allah protected His Messenger ﷺ and safeguarded him is what has come in the Sahih.