What did the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, do after the people dispersed from him and only twelve men remained—did he complete his sermon and prayer with them?

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, was delivering the Friday sermon when a trade caravan arrived. Most people left and went to it, and only twelve men remained. So Allah revealed the verse: (And when they saw a transaction or a diversion, they rushed to it and left you standing). The apparent meaning of the hadith indicates that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, completed the sermon and prayed Friday prayer with them, and that those who left did not return and deserved reproach. Scholars differed regarding the number required for the Friday prayer to be valid. Some said twelve men, while others stipulated forty, interpreting the hadith to mean that the people returned and completed the number, but this contradicts the apparent meaning. The most preponderant opinion is that no specific number is required for the validity of the Friday prayer; it is valid with the number that makes a congregational prayer valid.