An 8th/9th-century Description of the First Hijra
This passage comes from the main biography of the Prophet Muhammad, written in the 8th century by Ibn Ishaq and preserved in the history of Ibn Hisham in the 9th century.
source, pp. 150-3.
A 9th-century Description of the First Hijra
This snippet is from a biographical dictionary written in Arabic in the 9th century.
Muhammad b. ʿUmar informed us: Hisham Ibn Saʿd informed us on the authority of al-Zuhri; he said: When the number of the Muslims grew and the faith became known and the subject of common talk, the unbelievers of the Quraysh attacked, tortured and imprisoned them; they wanted to reconvert them. Thereupon the Apostle of God, may God bless him, said: Be scattered in the earth. They said: Where (are we) to go, 0 Apostle of God? He said: That way, and pointed towards Abyssinia, and it was the dearest of lands to migrate to. Many Muslims migrated; some of them with their families and the others without them. Ultimately, they reached Abyssinia.
Muhammad b. ʿUmar informed us; he said: Yunus b. Muhammad related to me on the authority of his father; (second chain) he (Ibn Saʿd) said: ʿAbd al-Hamid b. Yesfar related to me on the authority of Muhammad Ibn Yahya b. Habban; he said: The name of the men and women (who migrated) are (I) ʿUthman b. ʿAffan with his wife Ruqayyah, the daughter of the Apostle of Allah, may Allah bless him, (2) Abu Hudhayfah b. ʿUtbah b. Rabiʿah with his wife Sahlah, the daughter of Suhayl b. ʿAmr, (3) al-Zubayr b. al-ʿAwwam b. Khuwaylid b. Asad, (4) Musʿab b. ʿUmayr b. Hashim b. ʿAbd Manaf b. ʿAbd al-Dar, (5) ʿAbd al-Rahman b. ʿAwf b. ʿAbd ʿAwf b. ʿAbd b. al-Harith b. Zuhrah, (6) Abu Salamah b. ʿAbd al-Asad b. Hilāl b. ʿAbd Allah b. Makhzum with his wife Umm Salamah, the daughter of Abu Umayyah b. al-Mughirah, (7) ʿUthman b. Mazʿun al-Jumahi (8) ʿAmir b. Rabiʿah al-ʿAnzi, the ally of Banu ʿAdi b. Kaʿb with his wife Layla, the daughter of Abu Hathmah, (9) Abu Sabrah b. Abi Ruhm Ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzza al-ʿAmiri, (10) Hatib b. ʿAmr b. ʿAbd Shams, (11) Suhayl b. Bayda, a member of the tribe of Banu al-Harith b. Fihr, and (12) ʿAbd Allah b. Masʿud the ally of Banu Zuhrah.
Muhammad b. ʿUmar informed us: Yunus b. Muhammad al-Zafari informed us on the authority of his father, the authority of a man of his tribe; (second chain) he (Ibn Saʿd) said: ʿUbayd Allah b. al-ʿAbbas al-Hudhali informed us on the authority of al-Harith b. al-Fudayl; they said: They (Muslims) secretly migrated and their number consisted of eleven men and four women, until they reached al-Shuʿaybah. Some of them were riding while others were walking on foot. When they reached (the coast), luckily two boats of the merchants (were there); they boarded them, paying half a dinar each. Their migration took place in the month of Rajab in the fifth year after the discussion or prophethood of the Apostle of God, may God bless him. The Quraysh followed them; but when they reached the coast they had boarded (the boats); they did not find them. They (emigrants) said: We landed in Abyssinia where we got the best of neighbors, and were therefore in peace about our faith; we worshiped God and we were not hurt, nor did we hear any word displeasing to us.
A 14th-century Manuscript Illustration of the First Hijra
This image shows the early Muslim community talking to the Christian king of Axum, from a 14th-century manuscript of Rashid al-Din’s history, made in Iran.
Medieval Islamic History 