Abu Bakr also emerged and told the polytheists of his experience with the Messenger of Allah—may His glory be exalted—saying to them: "You have no power against the magic of Muhammad." These are stories whose explanation is lengthy.

Jabir said: "By Allah, O son of the Messenger of Allah, thus did your grandfather, the Messenger of Allah (Mighty is His Glory), narrate to me; he neither added nor omitted a single letter."

And some have narrated that when the polytheists reached the cave, they found it covered by a spider’s web that overshadowed it, and a pigeon brooding over its eggs. When they looked at the resting place of the she-camel, they said: "Had Muhammad entered this cave, he would have torn the spider’s web and the pigeon would have flown away." Thus, Allah averted them from him. When Abu Bakr saw them, he said: "O Messenger of Allah, the polytheists have come to us from the entrance of the cave; what shall we do?" The Messenger of Allah (Mighty is His Glory) said to him: "O Abu Bakr, if they come from here, we shall exit from there." Then he struck the earth with his foot, and it split open to reveal a vast sea with a ship drifting [or sailing] therein. At that moment, Abu Bakr was overtaken by the events that befell him—and the report is lengthy.