'Itban bin Malik

Ka'b ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ from the Ansar of Medina and one of the most celebrated poets of the early Muslim community, using his poetic talent to defend Islam and respond to the poets of the Quraysh. He is historically known as one of the three companions who stayed behind from the expedition of Tabuk in 9 AH without a valid excuse — the other two being Murara ibn al-Rabi'ah and Hilal ibn Umayyah. Unlike the hypocrites who made false excuses, the three were honest about their failure and bore the painful social boycott imposed by the Prophet ﷺ for fifty days, until Allah revealed their forgiveness in Surah al-Tawbah (9:118). His account of this episode — narrated at length in Sahih al-Bukhari — is one of the most moving and detailed narratives in all of hadith literature, and a profound lesson on repentance and divine mercy. He also narrated hadiths on various aspects of worship and prophetic practice, and his narrations appear in the Sahihayn and the major Sunan collections.