حَدَّثَنِي عَبْدُ الْجَبَّارِ بْنُ مُحَمَّدٍ يَعْنِي الْخَطَّابِيَّ حَدَّثَنَا عُبَيْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَمْرٍو عَنْ عَبْدِ الْكَرِيمِ عَنْ عِكْرِمَةَ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ أَنَّ رَجُلًا خَرَجَ فَتَبِعَهُ رَجُلَانِ وَرَجُلٌ يَتْلُوهُمَا يَقُولُ ارْجِعَا قَالَ فَرَجَعَا قَالَ فَقَالَ لَهُ إِنَّ هَذَيْنِ شَيْطَانَانِ وَإِنِّي لَمْ أَزَلْ بِهِمَا حَتَّى رَدَدْتُهُمَا فَإِذَا أَتَيْتَ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَقْرِئْهُ السَّلَامَ وَأَعْلِمْهُ أَنَّا فِي جَمْعِ صَدَقَاتِنَا وَلَوْ كَانَتْ تَصْلُحُ لَهُ لَأَرْسَلْنَا بِهَا إِلَيْهِ قَالَ فَنَهَى رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ عِنْدَ ذَلِكَ عَنْ الْخَلْوَةِ
مسند امام احمد بن حنبل · Hadith 2510
It was narrated from Ibn 'Abbas (RA) that a man set out and two men followed him, and another man followed them, saying: Go back. So they went back. He said to him: These are two devils, and I kept on at them until I sent them back. When you go to the Prophet (PBUH), convey our salams to him and tell him that I am collecting their zakafr, if it was good for him we would have sent it to him. As a result of that, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) forbade travelling alone.
Translated by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan · Reviewed by Islamic University of Madinah · Published March 2020