Whenever the people stopped at a campsite, in another wording, whenever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stopped at a campsite, they would scatter throughout the mountain passes and valleys.So the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "Your scattering through these mountain passes and valleys is only from Satan."After that, they never stopped at a campsite without huddling so close together that it used to be said, "If a single garment were spread over them, it would cover them all."
كان الناس إذا نزلوا منزلا- لفظ: كان الناس إذا نزل رسول الله ﷺ منزلا- تفرقوا في الشعاب والأودية فقال رسول الله ﷺ: إن تفرقكم فى هذه الشعاب والأودية إنما ذلكم من الشيطان. فلم ينزل بعد ذلك منزلا إلا انضم بعضهم إلى بعض حتى يقال: لو بسط عليهم ثوب لعمهم.
Reported by Abu Dawud (2628), Ahmad (17736), and Ibn Hibban graded it sahih (2690), and Hakim (2/115), all of them through routes from Walid bin Muslim, who said, Abdullah bin Ala bin Zabr narrated to us, that he heard Muslim bin Mishkam Abu Ubaydullah say, Abu Thalaba Khushani narrated to us, and he mentioned it. Its chain of transmission is sahih. Hakim said, its chain of transmission is sahih.