On the road he ﷺ met az-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him), back from Syria, who gave them both white clothes.
The Muslims of Medina had heard he ﷺ had left Mecca. Every morning they went out to the harra, and waited.
They stayed until the heat of noon drove them back. One day they waited long, then went in.
The men of Qubâ' remembered it: after the dawn prayer, out to the harra, until the sun left no shade.
That day they had just gone into their houses when a Jew climbed one of his people's forts, looking for something.
He saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions in white, wavering in the mirage.
He could not hold it in and shouted: “O Arabs! Here is your good fortune, the one you have been waiting for!”
The Muslims rushed to their weapons and met him ﷺ on the back of the harra. The first to see him was not one of them.
He ﷺ turned right with them and alighted among Banû 'Amr ibn 'Awf. A Monday, in Rabî' al-Awwal. That place is Qubâ'.
Abû Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) stood to receive the people. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sat, and said nothing.
Ansâr who had never seen him ﷺ came up and greeted Abû Bakr, taking the standing man for the guest.
Then the sun reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Abû Bakr came and shaded him with his cloak. Then the people knew him.
The men of Qubâ' add the palm tree: he ﷺ sat in its shade, with Abû Bakr, and most of them had never seen him.
Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) tells the entry: he ﷺ stopped by the harra and sent word to the Ansâr.
They came and greeted them: “Ride, safe and obeyed.” The two rode on, the Ansâr around them, armed.
Word ran through Medina: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ has come! People climbed up to look, saying it again and again.
Abû Bakr remembered the night: men and women went up on the rooftops; boys and servants spread through the streets.
“O Muhammad ﷺ, O Messenger of Allah ﷺ!” they called, in the streets and on the roofs.
Al-Barâ' (may Allah be pleased with him): “I never saw the people of Medina rejoice over anything as over him ﷺ.”
“Even the slave-girls were saying it: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has come.”
The Cave of Thawr ended on the sea road. Surâqa has his own book. Here, the end of the road: a town that had been waiting.
Who was looking out, who saw him first, and why did they greet the wrong man?
A caravan, white clothes, mornings at the harra, a shout from a fort, a cloak against the sun, and rooftops full.
Tonight, go out to meet someone before they reach your door: a message, a call, a step toward them.