To return to our narrative of the Hijra. After the Prophet(sa) had dismissed Suraqa(ra) he continued his journey to Medina unmolested. When he reached Medina, the Prophet(sa) found the people waiting impatiently. A more auspicious day could not have dawned for them. For, the sun which had risen for Mecca had come instead to shine on Medina.
News that the Prophet(sa) had left Mecca had reached them, so they were expecting his arrival. Parties of them went miles out of Medina to look for him. They went in the morning and returned disappointed in the evening. When at last the Prophet(sa) did reach Medina, he decided to stop for a while in Quba, a nearby village. A Jew had seen the two camels and had decided that they were carrying the Prophet(sa) and his Companions. He climbed an eminence and shouted, "Sons of Qaila, he for whom you waited has come." Everyone in Medina who heard this cry rushed to Quba, while the people of Quba, overjoyed at the arrival of the Prophet(sa) in their midst sang songs in his honour.
The utter simplicity of the Prophet(sa) is illustrated by an incident which took place at this time at Quba. Most people in Medina had not seen the Prophet(sa) before. When they saw his party sitting under a tree, many of them took Abu Bakr(ra) for the Prophet(sa). Abu Bakr(ra), though younger, had a greyer beard and was better dressed than the Prophet(sa). So they turned to him and sat in front of him, after showing him the obeisance due to the Prophet(sa). When Abu Bakr(ra) saw that he was being mistaken for the Prophet(sa), he rose, took his mantle and hung it against the sun and said, "Prophet(sa) of God, you are in the sun. I make this shade for you" (Bukhari). With tact and courtesy he made plain to visitors from Medina their error. The Prophet(sa) stopped at Quba for ten days, after which the people of Medina took him to their city. When he entered the town, he found that all the people, men, women and children, had turned out to receive him. Among the songs they sang was:
Moon of the fourteenth night has risen on us from behind al-Wida'. So long as we have in our midst one who calls us to God, it is incumbent upon us to tender our thanks to God. To you who have been sent to us by God we present our perfect obedience (Halbiyya).
The Prophet(sa) did not enter Medina from the eastern side. When the people of Medina described him as a "moon of the fourteenth night", they meant that they were living in the dark before the Prophet(sa) came to shed his light upon them. It was a Monday when the Prophet(sa) entered Medina. It was a Monday when he left the cave Thaur and, strange as it may seem, it was a Monday on which he took Mecca about ten years later.