The Meccans Deploy Expert Trackers and Reach the Cave of Thaur

And after scouring Mecca to no avail, they deployed expert trackers to every corner of Mecca. One of the chiefs of Mecca, Umayya bin Khalaf took an expert tracker with him and set out along with his counterparts. There is no doubt that this tracker was exceptionally skilled. In fact, he cannot be complimented enough, for he was the only tracker who was able to trace the Holy Prophet (sa) footprints to Cave Thaur, and once there, he said that Muhammad’s (sa) footprints stopped there and did not go any further.”

Allama Baladhuri has stated that the tracker’s name was Alqama bin Kurz, and writes that he accepted Islam during the Conquest of Mecca. They were standing and talking by the mouth of the cave, and not only were the two migrants [the Holy Prophet (sa) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra)] hidden inside the very same cave, they could hear what the people outside were saying. In fact, Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) states, “I could see their feet, and by God, if even one of them were to look inside, we would have been caught.” However, in this time of danger and hardship, those two were not alone; rather, God was the Third among them, Who has control over the earth and the heavens and power over all things.

(Subul al-Huda wa al-Rishad, Vol. 3, p. 241, Dar-ul-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, 1993) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Kitab Fazail Ashaab al-Nabi, Baab Manaqib-ul-Muhajireen wa Fazlehim, Narration 3653)

Before those people arrived, He caused a tree to grow through His miraculous power, He sent a spider which spun a web at the mouth of the cave, and He sent a pair of birds who made a nest and laid eggs. This is all recorded in the narration.

(Al-Muwahib al-Ladunniyyah, Allama Qastallani, Vol. 1, pp. 292-292, Al-Maktab Al-Islami, Beirut, 2004)