He was tending a milk camel in one of the valleys of Uhud when it was on the verge of death. Finding nothing with which to slaughter it, he took a tent peg and stabbed it into the camel's throat until its blood flowed out. He then came to the Prophet ﷺ and informed him of what had happened, and the Prophet instructed him to eat its meat.
أنه كان يرعى لقحة بشعب من شعاب أحد، فأخذها الموت، فلم يجد شيئا ينحرها به، فأخذ وتدا فوجأ به في لبتها حتى أهريق دمها، ثم جاء إلى النبي ﷺ فأخبره بذلك، فأمره بأكلها.
Abu Dawud (2823) narrated it, and Bayhaqi (9/281) narrated it through his route, from Qutayba bin Saeed, who said, Yaqub narrated to us, from Zayd bin Aslam, from Ata bin Yasar, from a man of Banu Haritha, and he related it. Its isnad is sahih, and Yaqub is Ibn Abdul-Rahman Qari, of Madinah then Alexandria.Sufyan Thawri followed him in what Imam Ahmad narrated (23647). Sufyan bin Uyayna differed from both of them, narrating it from Zayd bin Aslam, from Ata bin Yasar, that a boy from Banu Haritha was herding a milk camel of his at Uhud... and so on. Ibn Abu Shayba (5/391) and Abdul-Razzaq (8626) both narrated it from Ibn Uyayna in this manner. He narrated it this way as a mursal report, and Imam Malik followed him in the Muwatta, in the Book of Sacrifices (3).Ibn Abdul-Barr said in Tamhid (5/136), "This is how a group of the narrators of the Muwatta narrated it, as mursal, though its meaning is connected through established routes going back to the Prophet ﷺ. I do not know of anyone who narrated it with a full chain from Zayd bin Aslam except Jareer bin Hazim, from Ayub, from Zayd bin Aslam, from Ata bin Yasar, from Abu Saeed Khudri."I say, this is contested by what has already been mentioned, for Yaqub and Thawri also narrated it with a full chain. And the failure to name the companion does not harm the report, as is well known.As for the narration of Jareer referred to above, Nasai narrated it (4402), and Ibn Jarud also narrated it in Muntaqa (896), where it states, Jareer, meaning Ibn Hazim, said, "Ayub used to relate to me from Zayd bin Aslam, so I met Zayd and asked him, and he said, Ata bin Yasar related to me, from Abu Saeed Khudri," and he related it.This is another type of variation, but it does not affect the ruling. Rather, it strengthens the narration that has a full chain. The variation in whether the companion is named or left unnamed does not harm the report, as I mentioned before. So the hadith is sahih in any case, and Ibn Abdul-Barr graded it hasan in Tamhid (5/150-151).