Narrated Zubayb ibn Tha'labah al-Anbari:
The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) sent an army to Banu al-Anbar. They captured them at Rukbah in the suburbs of at-Ta'if and drove them to the Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him).
I rode hurriedly to the Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said: Peace be on you, Apostle of Allah, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. Your contingent came to us and arrested us, but we had already embraced Islam and cut the sides of the ears of our cattle.
When Banu al-Anbar arrived, the Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said to me: Have you any evidence that you had embraced Islam before you were captured today?
I said: Yes. He said: Who is your witness? I said: Samurah, a man from Banu al-Anbar, and another man whom he named. The man testified but Samurah refused to testify. The Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: He (Samurah) has refused to testify for you, so take an oath with your other witness. I said: Yes. He then dictated an oath to me and I swore to the effect that we had embraced Islam on a certain day, and that we had cut the sides of the ears of the cattle.
The Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Go and divide half of their property, but do not touch their children. Had Allah not disliked the wastage of action, we should not have taxed you even a rope.
Zubayb said: My mother called me and said: This man has taken my mattress. I then went to the Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and informed him.
He said to me: Detain him. So I caught him with a garment around his neck, and stood there with him . Then the Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) looked at us standing there. He asked: What do you intend (doing) with your captive?
I said: I shall let him go free if he returns to this (man) the mattress of his mother which he has taken from her.
He said: Prophet of Allah (peace_be_upon_him), I no longer have it.
He said: The Holy Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) took the sword of the man and gave it to me, and said to him: Go and give him some sa's of cereal. So he gave me some sa's of barley.