Abbas said, "I was already a Muslim, Messenger of Allah."The Prophet ﷺ replied, "Allah knows best about your Islam. If it is as you say, Allah will reward you. But ransom yourself, and your two nephews Nawfal bin Harith and Aqeel bin Abu Talib, and your ally Utbah bin Amr."Abbas said, "I do not have the means for that, Messenger of Allah."The Prophet ﷺ said, "Then where is the wealth that you and Umm Fadl buried, when you said to her, 'If I am killed, this wealth is for my sons Fadl, Abdullah, and Qutham'?"Abbas said, "By Allah, Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that you are indeed the Messenger of Allah. This is something no one knew but me and Umm Fadl. So count for me, Messenger of Allah, the twenty ounces you took from me out of the wealth I was carrying."The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I will do that."So Abbas ransomed himself, his two nephews, and his ally, and Allah revealed, "Prophet, say to those captives in your hands, if Allah knows of any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you, and He will forgive you. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful" [Anfal 8:70].Abbas said, "In place of those twenty ounces, He gave me in Islam twenty slaves, every one of them holding wealth with which he traded, besides the forgiveness of Allah
that I hope for."
قال العباس: إني كنت مسلما يا رسول الله، قال: الله أعلم بإسلامك، فإن يكن كما تقول فالله يجزيك فافد نفسك، وابني أخويك نوفل بن الحارث، وعقيل بن أبي طالب وحليفك عتبة بن عمرو قال: ما ذاك عندي يا رسول الله قال: فأين المال الذي دفنت أنت وأم الفضل، فقلت لها: إن أصبت فهذا المال لبني الفضل، وعبد الله وقتم فقال: والله يا رسول الله إني أشهد أنك رسول الله إن هذا لشيء ما علمه أحد غيري وغير أم الفضل، فاحسب لي يا رسول الله ما أصبتم مني عشرين أوقية من مال كان معي، فقال رسول الله ﷺ: أفعل ففدى العباس نفسه وابني أخويه وحليفه، وأنزل الله عز وجل: {يأيها النبي قل لمن في أيديكم من الأسرى إن يعلم الله في قلوبكم خيرا يؤتكم خيرا مما أخذ منكم ويغفر لكم والله غفور رحيم} [الأنفال: ٧٠] فأعطاني مكان العشرين من الأوقية في الإسلام عشرين عبدا كلهم في يده مال يضرب به، مع ما أرجو من مغفرة الله عز وجل.
Hakim narrated it (3/324), and Bayhaqi narrated it from him (6/322), from the hadith of Yunus bin Bukayr, from Ibn Ishaq, who said, Yahya bin Abbad bin Abdullah bin Zubayr told us, from his father, from Ayesha, and he mentioned it. Hakim said, sahih according to the criterion of Muslim.I say, its chain is hasan because of Muhammad bin Ishaq, for he explicitly stated that he heard it directly. Muhammad bin Ishaq also narrated this story through other routes from Ibn Abbas. Ahmad narrated it (3310), and it contains a man who is not named. In another route, it comes from Yazid bin Ruman, from Urwa, from Zuhri and a group whom he named.Bayhaqi also narrated something similar to it in Dalail (3/142), and this strengthens what has preceded.