I was the first Arab to shoot an arrow in the path of Allah. I remember us going on military expeditions with nothing to eat but the leaves of the hubla tree and these acacia trees, so that one of us would relieve himself like a sheep does, with no consistency to it, like a sheep with no consistency to it. Then the tribe of Banu Asad came along to reprimand me about Islam. I would indeed be a failure, and my efforts in vain, if that were so.
إني لأول العرب رمى بسهم في سبيل الله، و رأيتنا نغزو وما لنا طعام إلا ورق الحبلة وهذا السمر، وإن أحدنا ليضع كما تضع الشاة ما له خلط، الشاة ماله خلط، ثم أصبحت بنو أسد تعزرني على الإسلام، خبت إذا وضل سعيي.
Bukhari narrated it in Riqaq (6453), and Muslim in Zuhd (2966-12), both through the route of Ismail, [who said] Qays narrated to us, I heard Saad say, and then he related it. In one wording he added, after his statement "I would then be at a loss...", "They had slandered him to Umar, saying, 'He does not pray well.'"Bukhari narrated it in Fadail al-Sahabah (3728) through another route from Ismail with the same account. In one wording it reads, "until one of us would relieve himself as a goat does, without mixing it with anything."Muslim narrated it in Zuhd (2966-13) from Yahya bin Yahya, [who said] Waki narrated to us, from Ismail bin Abu Khalid, with the same account.