I never stayed behind from any expedition the Messenger of Allah ﷺ undertook except the expedition of Tabuk, though I had also stayed behind from the expedition of Badr. But no one was reproached for missing Badr, for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had only set out intending to intercept the caravan of Quraysh, until Allah brought them and their enemy together without any prior appointment… the rest of the hadith.
لم أتخلف عن رسول الله ﷺ في غزوة غزاها إلا في غزوة تبوك، غير أني تخلفت عن غزوة بدر، ولم يعاتب أحد تخلف عنها، إنما خرج رسول الله ﷺ يريد عير قريش، حتى جمع الله بينهم وبين عدوهم على غير ميعاد… الحديث.
Bukhari narrated it in the Book of Military Expeditions (3951) and Muslim in the Book of Repentance (53:2769), both through Layth (that is, Ibn Saad), from Aqeel (that is, Ibn Khalid Ayli), from Ibn Shihab, from Abdul-Rahman bin Abdullah bin Kaab, that Abdullah bin Kaab said, I heard Kaab bin Malik say, and then he related it.Badr, with a fatha followed by a sakin, is a well known village named after Badr bin Makhlad bin Nadr bin Kinanah, who had settled there. It is also said that it is the name of the well that was there. It is now a large, thriving town, about 150 kilometers from Madinah al-Munawwarah, as noted in Al-Maalim al-Athirah, page 44.