"Why don't you go to him and ask him?"So I met him and asked him, and he said, "We lived by a watering place that people passed by, and caravans would pass us, so we would ask them, 'What is happening with the people? What is happening with the people? Who is this man?' They would say, 'He claims that Allah has sent him and revealed to him,' or 'Allah has revealed such-and-such to him.' I would memorize those words, as though they were imprinted in my chest.The Arabs were holding back from accepting Islam, waiting for the conquest of Mecca, saying, 'Leave him and his people. If he prevails over them, he is a true prophet.' When the conquest of Mecca occurred, every people rushed to embrace Islam, and my father hurried ahead of my tribe with his Islam.When he returned, he said, 'By Allah, I have come to you from the true Prophet ﷺ. He said, Pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time, and pray such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time. When the time of prayer comes, let one of you give the call to prayer, and let the one among you who knows the most of the Quran lead you in prayer.'They looked, and there was no one who knew more of the Quran than I did, because of what I had been picking up from the caravans. So they put me in front to lead them, though I was only six or seven years old. I had a small cloak that, whenever I prostrated, would ride up and expose me. A woman from the tribe said, 'Won't you cover the backside of your reciter from us?' So they bought cloth and made me a shirt, and I have never been so delighted by anything as I was by that shirt."
حدثنا سليمان بن حرب حدثنا حماد بن زيد عن أيوب عن أبي قلابة عن عمرو بن سلمة قال قال لي
ألا تلقاه فتسأله قال فلقيته فسألته فقال كنا بماء ممر الناس وكان يمر بنا الركبان فنسألهم ما للناس ما للناس ما هذا الرجل فيقولون يزعم أن الله أرسله أوحى إليه أو أوحى الله بكذا فكنت أحفظ ذلك الكلام وكأنما يقر في صدري وكانت العرب تلوم بإسلامهم الفتح فيقولون اتركوه وقومه فإنه إن ظهر عليهم فهو نبي صادق فلما كانت وقعة أهل الفتح بادر كل قوم بإسلامهم وبدر أبي قومي بإسلامهم فلما قدم قال جئتكم والله من عند النبي ﷺ حقا فقال صلوا صلاة كذا في حين كذا وصلوا صلاة كذا في حين كذا فإذا حضرت الصلاة فليؤذن أحدكم وليؤمكم أكثركم قرآنا فنظروا فلم يكن أحد أكثر قرآنا مني لما كنت أتلقى من الركبان فقدموني بين أيديهم وأنا ابن ست أو سبع سنين وكانت علي بردة كنت إذا سجدت تقلصت عني فقالت امرأة من الحي ألا تغطوا عنا است قارئكم فاشتزوا فقطعوا لي قميصا فما فرحت بشيء فرحي بذلك القميص