We were at Badr with every three men sharing a single camel. Abu Lubabah and Ali bin Abu Talib were the Messenger of Allah's ﷺ camel-mates. When it came to the Messenger of Allah's ﷺ turn to walk, the two of them said, "We will walk in your place."He replied, "Neither of you is stronger than I am, nor am I any less in need of the reward than you."
كنا يوم بدر كل ثلاثة على بعير، كان أبو لبابة وعلي بن أبي طالب زميلي رسول الله ﷺ. قال: وكانت عقبة رسول الله ﷺ قال: فقالا: نحن نمشي عنك، فقال: ما أنتما بأقوى مني، ولا أنا بأغنى من الأجر منكما.
Narrated by Ahmad (3901), Abu Yaala (5359), and Bazzar in Kashf Astar (1759). Ibn Hibban (4733), Hakim (2/91), and Bayhaqi in Dalail (3/39) graded it sahih, all of them through routes from Hammad bin Salama, who said, Asim bin Bahdala informed us, from Zirr bin Hubaysh, from Abdullah, and he mentioned it.Its chain of transmission is hasan, because of the discussion regarding Asim bin Bahdala, though his hadith is hasan. Hakim said, its chain of transmission is sahih.His saying, "the turn of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ," means his turn. Ibn Ishaq said, the camels of the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that day numbered seventy, and they took turns riding them. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Ali bin Abu Talib, and Marthad bin Abu Marthad Ghanawi took turns riding one camel. Hamza bin Abdul-Muttalib, Zayd bin Haritha, and Abu Kabsha and Anasa, the two freedmen of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, took turns riding one camel. Abu Bakr, Umar, and Abdul-Rahman bin Awf took turns riding one camel. Sirat bin Hisham (1/613).In Ibn Ishaq's account, Marthad bin Abu Marthad appears in place of Abu Lubaba. Perhaps this reflects two different occasions, and perhaps Ali bin Abu Talib and Abu Lubaba were the Prophet's ﷺ two riding companions at the outset, for when the Prophet ﷺ set out, he appointed Abdullah bin Umm Maktum over Madinah to lead the people in prayer, then he sent Abu Lubaba back from Rawha.He appointed him governor over Madinah, as Hakim narrated (3/632) through the route of Ibn Lahia, who said, Abu Aswad told us, from Urwa bin Zubayr, that Abu Lubaba Bashir bin Abdul-Mundhir and Harith bin Hatib set out toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and went with him toward Badr, but he sent them both back and appointed Abu Lubaba over Madinah, and he allotted them two shares along with the participants of Badr. Hakim and Dhahabi passed over this in silence. There is well-known discussion regarding Ibn Lahia.So when Abu Lubaba returned, the Prophet's ﷺ riding companions became Ali bin Abu Talib and Marthad bin Abu Marthad.