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Then Talhah b. 'Uthman, 172 the polytheist's standard-bearer, rose up and said, "You companions of Muhammad, you assert that God will hasten us to Hell by means of your swords, and that He will hasten you to Paradise by means of our swords. Is there one of you whom God will hasten to Paradise by means of my sword, or who will hasten me to Hell by means of his sword?"

‘Ali b. Abi Talib rose up and said, "By him who holds my soul in his hand, I shall not separate from you until I have hastened you to Hell by means of my sword or until you have hastened me to Paradise by means of your sword." Then 'All struck him, cutting off his foot, and Talhah b. 'Uthman fell down, exposing his genitals. He said, "I call on you in the name of God and in the name of blood-relationship, cousin!" So 'Alt left him, and the Messenger of God cried out, "God is great!" His companions said to ‘All,

"What prevented you from finishing him off?" He said, "My cousin called on me in God's name with his genitals exposed, and I felt a sense of shame before him."

After this al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam and al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad attacked the polytheists and put them to flight, while the Prophet and his companions charged and put Abu Sufyan to flight. When Khalid b. al-Walid, who was in command of the polytheists' cavalry, saw this, he made a countercharge, but the archers rained arrows upon him, and his advance was checked. However, when the archers saw the Messenger of God and his companions in the heart of the polytheists' camp and plundering them, they hurried down to the booty. Some of them said, "Do not go against the command of the Messenger of God," but most of them went to the camp. When Khalid saw how few archers there were left, he shouted to his cavalry, charged, and killed the archers, and then charged the Prophet's companions. When the polytheists on foot saw that their cavalry was in action, they called to one another and renewed their attack on the Muslims, defeating them and killing some.

According to Bishr b. Adam — ‘Amr b. 'Asim al-Kilabi — 'Ubayd

172. The person intended is Talhah b. *Abd Allah b. *Abd al-‘Uzza b. 'Uthman, also known as Talhah b. Abi Talhah; see W, 22 sf. The exposure of the genitals was deliberate and was a way of asking for mercy. It is not clear what precise cousinship Talhah intended; his paternal aunt Barrah bt. 'Abd al-'Uzza was Muhammad's maternal grandmother.

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Allah b. al-Wazi' — Hisham b. 'Urwah — his father — al-Zubayr: The Messenger of God displayed a sword in his hand on the day of Uhud, and said, "Who will take this sword with its right?" I rose up and said, "I will, O Messenger of God." But he turned away from me, and said again, "Who will take this sword with its right?" I said again, "I will, O Messenger of God," but he turned away from me and said, "Who will take this sword with its right?" Then Abu Dujanah Simak b. Kharashah rose up and said, "I will take it with its right. What is its right?" The Messenger of God replied, "Its right is that you should not kill a Muslim with it, and that you should not flee with it from an unbeliever." Then he gave it to him.

When he was eager for battle, Abu Dujanah used to wear a headband as a distinguishing mark, and I said to myself, "I shall see what he will do today." Thereafter if any one rose up before him, he slashed them down and ripped them apart. Finally, he came to some women on the lower slopes of a mountain who had tambourines with them; among them was a woman who was chanting:

We are the daughters of Tariq

If you advance we will embrace you

And spread cushions

If you turn your backs we will leave you

And show you no tender love.

He raised his sword to strike them, but then let them be. I said

to him, "I saw all of your deeds. Why did you decide to lower your

sword after raising it against the woman?" He replied, "I respected

the Messenger of God's sword too much to kill a woman

with it."

398] Resumption of the narrative of Ibn Ishaq.

The Messenger of God said, "Who will take this sword with its

right?" Various men rose up, but he withheld it from them. Finally

Abu Dujanah Simak b. Kharashah, the brother of the Banu

Sa'idah, rose up and said, "What is its right, O Messenger of

God?<" The Messenger of God replied, "That you should strike the

enemy with it until it bends." Abu Dujanah said, "I will take it

with its right, O Messenger of God"; so he gave it to him. Abu

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Dujanah was a brave but conceited man when war broke out, and

whenever he bound a red headband on his head as a distinguishing

mark, people knew that he was going to fight. When he took

the sword from the hand of the Messenger of God, he took his beheadband

and bound it on his head. Then he began to strut between the opposing ranks.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Ja'far b. 'Abd Allah b. Aslam, the mawla of 'Umar b. al-Khattab —

a man of the Ansar from the Banu Salima: When the Messenger

of God saw Abu Dujanah strutting he said, "That is a gait

which God hates except on an occasion like this."

Abu Sufyan had sent a messenger saying, "Men of al-Aws and

al-Khazraj, leave us to deal with our cousin, and we will leave

you; for we have no need to fight you." But they gave him a disagreeable answer.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —

 'Asim b. 'Umar b. Qatadah: Abu 'Amir 'Abd 'Amr b. Sayfl b.

Malik b. al-Nu'man b. Amah, one of the Banu Dubay'ah, had gone

to Mecca in order to distance himself from the Messenger of God,

accompanied by fifty young men of al-Aws, including 'Uthman b.

Hunayf; some people say there were fifteen of them. He kept

promising Quraysh that if he met Muhammad, no two men of

them would meet him. When battle was joined, the first man to

meet the Muslims was Abu 'Amir with the Ahabish and the

slaves of the Meccans. He called out, "Men of al-Aws, 1 am Abu

'Amir." They replied, "God curse you, you evildoer!" In the

Jahiliyyah, Abu 'Amir had been called "the monk," but the Messenger

of God called him "the evildoer." When he heard their reply,

he said, "Evil has befallen my people since my departure."

Then he fought the Muslims vigorously and pelted them with

stones.

Abu Sufyan had said to the standard-bearers of the Banu 'Abd

al-Dar, urging them on to battle, "Banu 'Abd al-Dar, you had

charge of our banner on the day of Badr, and you saw what a disaster

befell us. Men are dependent on what happens to their banners;

if their banners are destroyed, they are destroyed too. Either

you must take proper care of our banner or leave it to us, and we

will take care of it for you." This disgraceful possibility worried

them, and they furiously retorted, "Are we to hand our banner

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over to you? You will see how we will act tomorrow when we

join battle." That was what Abu Sufyan wanted.

When battle was joined, and the armies closed upon one another,

Hind bt. 'Utbah stood up among the women who were with

her, and they took up their tambourines. They beat their tambourines

behind the men and urged them on to fight. Hind chanted:

If you advance we will embrace you

And spread cushions;

If you turn your backs we will leave you

And show you no tender love.

She also chanted:

On, Banu 'Abd al-Dar!

On, protectors of our rear!

Strike with every sharp-edged sword!

The armies engaged one another and the battle grew hot. Abu

Dujanah fought until he had penetrated deep into the enemy

ranks. Hamzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib and 'All b. Abl Talib fought at

the head of a band of Muslims. God sent down his victory and

made good his promise to them. They cut down the enemy with

their swords until they put them to flight. There was no doubt

about the defeat the Muslims had inflicted on the Meccans.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Yahya b. 'Abbad b. 'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr — his father — his

[1401] grandfather, al-Zubayr: "By God, I found myself looking at the

anklets of Hind bt. 'Utbah and her companions as they tucked up

their skirts and fled. There was nothing to prevent us taking

them, but the archers turned aside to the (enemy) camp in search

of plunder after we had driven the enemy away from it and thus

left our rear exposed to the cavalry. These came upon us from behind,

and somebody shouted out, 'Muhammad has been killed!'

We turned back, and the enemy turned back after us, but not before

we had killed the men guarding the (Meccan) banner so that

none of the enemy were near it."

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —

certain scholars: The banner remained flung on the ground until

'Amrah bt. 'Alqamah al-Harithiyyah took hold of it; she then

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raised it for Quraysh and they flocked to it. 173 It had previously

been in the hands of Su'ab, an Abyssinian slave belonging to the

sons of Abu Talhah (the group responsible for the banner). He was

the last of the group to take it. He had fought until his hands were

cut off, and then he had knelt over it and clutched it to his chest

and throat. Finally he was killed over it, saying all the while, "O

God, am I forgiven?" Hassan b. Thabit said on the subject of

Su’ab's hand being cut off when they were exchanging mutual

taunts:

You boasted of your standard: the worst possible

boast is a standard handed over to Su’ab.

You have made your boast of it over

a slave, one of the lowliest men who walks the earth.

You supposed, though only a fool supposes,

for it has nothing to do with the truth,

That fighting us on the day when we met, was

like your selling red leather bags in Mecca.

It gladdened the eye to see his hands reddened,

though they were not reddened by dye. 1 ”

According to Abu Kurayb — 'Uthman b. Sa'id — Hibban b. 'All —

Muhammad b. 'Ubayd Allah b. Abi Rafi' — his father — his grandfather:

When ‘Ali b. Abi Taiib had killed the (Meccan) standardbearers,

the Messenger of God saw a group of the unbelievers of

Quraysh and said to ‘All, "Attack them." So 'All attacked them,

dispersed them, and killed 'Amr b. 'Abd Allah al-Jumahi. Then

the Messenger of God saw another group of the unbelievers of

Quraysh and said to 'All, "Attack them." So 'All attacked them,

dispersed them, and killed Shaybah b. Malik, one of the Banu

'Amir b. Lu’ayy. Then Gabriel said, "O Messenger of God, this is

for consolation." The Messenger of God said, "Verily he is of me

173. This woman was the wife of Ghurab, son of Sufyan b. 'Uwayf, the leader of

the Banu 'Abd Manat b. Kinanah; in W, 203 she is called 'Amrah bt. al-Harith b.

'Alqamah. Several sons and grandsons of Abu Talhah (of Banu 'Abd al-Dar) were

killed defending the banner. Su'ab is the reading of the slave's name by Wustenfeld, Marsden (ones and Arafat.

174. See Diwan of Hassan, i-367f.

1 1402)

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and I am of him," and Gabriel said, "And I am of both of you."

And they heard a voice saying,

There is no sword but Dhu al-Faqar,

and no brave young man but 'Ali.

The Muslims Retreat

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) says: When the Muslims were attacked

from behind and put to flight, the polytheists killed many of

them. When this catastrophe befell the Muslims, they were afflicted

in three ways,- some were killed, some wounded, and some

put to flight. The latter were so exhausted by battle that they did

not know what they were doing. The Messenger of God's lower

[1403) lateral incisor was broken, his lip was split, and he was wounded

on the cheeks and on the forehead at the roots of his hair. Ibn

Qami’ah stood over him to his left with his sword. The person

who wounded him was 'Utbah b. Abi Waqqas.

According to Ibn Bashshar — Ibn Abi 'Adi — Humayd — Anas b.

Malik: On the day of Uhud, the Messenger of God's incisor was

broken and he was wounded in the head. Blood began to pour

down his face, and he kept wiping it away, saying, "How can a

people prosper who stain the face of their Prophet with blood

while he is calling them to God?" God revealed concerning

this, "It is no concern at all of thee, (Muhammad), whether He relent

toward them or punish them: for they are evildoers." 175

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) says: When the enemy overwhelmed him,

the Messenger of God said, "Who will sell his life for us?"

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— al-Husayn b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Amr b. Sa'd b. Mu'adh —

Mahmud b. 'Amr b. Yazld b. al-Sakan: 176 Then Ziyad b. al-Sakan

rose up with five of the Ansar (some people say it was 'Umarah b.

Ziyad b. al-Sakan), and they fought to protect the Messenger of

God. Man after man of them was killed in front of him until only

Ziyad — or 'Umarah b. Ziyad b. al-Sakan — was left; and he fought

175. Qur. 3.128; only the first clause is quoted in the text.

176. Mahmud's grandfather Yazld appears to be the brother of Ziyad.

The Events of the Year 3

iai

until his wounds made him incapable of further fighting. By this

time a group of Muslims had come back and driven the enemy

away from Ziyad. The Messenger of God said, "Bring him close to

me." They brought Ziyad close to him, and the Messenger of God

made his foot a pillow for him so that he died with his cheek on

the Messenger of God's foot.

Abu Dujanah shielded the Messenger of God with his body,

bending over him while arrows struck his back until it was full of

them.

Sa'd b. Abi Waqqa§ used his bow in defence of the Messenger of

God. He said, "I saw him handing me arrows and saying, 'Shoot,

may my father and mother be your ransom.' He even handed me

an arrow without a head and said, 'Shoot this.' "

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— 'Asim b.'Umar b. Qatadah: The Messenger of God shot from his

bow until its end broke. Qatadah b. al-Nu'man took it and kept it.

(Qatadah's) eye was so badly injured that day that it fell out onto

his cheek. The Messenger of God put it back with his hand, and it

was his best and keenest eye (thereafter).

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) says: Mus ‘ab b. 'Umayr fought in defence

of the Messenger of God and bore his banner until he was killed.

The man who killed Mus'ab was Ibn Qami’ah al-Laythi, who

thought it was the Messenger of God, and went back to Quraysh

announcing that he had killed fyluhammad. After Mus'ab b.

'Umayr was killed, the Messenger of God gave the banner to 'Ali

b. Abi Talib. Hamzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib fought until he killed

Artat b. 'Abd Shurahbil b. Hashim b. 'Abd Manaf b. 'Abd al-Dar b.

Qusayy, who was one of those who were carrying the (Meccan)

banner. Then Siba' b. 'Abd al-'Uzza al-Ghubshani, whose kunyah (140s)

was Abu Niyar, passed by him, and Hamzah b. 'Abd al-Muttalib

said to him, "Come over here, you son of a cutter-off of clitorises."

His mother was Umm Anmar, the mawlat of Shariq b.

'Amr b. Wahb al-Thaqafi, who was a female circumciser in

Mecca. When they met, Hamzah struck him and killed him.

Wahshi, the slave of Jubayr b. Mut'im, said, "By God, I saw

Hamzah cutting down men with his sword, not sparing anyone

who went past him; he was like an ash-colored camel (in size).

When Siba' b. 'Abd al-'Uzza reached him before me, Hamzah said

to him, 'Come over here, you son of a cutter-off of clitorises.' He

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then struck him so swiftly that he could not be seen striking his

head. I balanced my javelin until I was satisfied with it, and then I

hurled it at Hamzah. It struck him in the lower part of the belly

with such force that it came out between his legs. He came towards

me, but was overcome and fell. I waited until he was dead

and then went and recovered my javelin; after that I returned to

the camp, since there was nothing else I wanted to do there."

'Asim b. Thabit b. Abi al-Aqlah, the brother of the Banu 'Amr b.

'Awf, killed Musafi' b. Talhah and his brother Kilab b. Talhah

(son of Abu Talhah), hitting each of them with an arrow; each

went to his mother Sulafah and put his head in her lap. When she

asked, "My son, who has wounded you?" each replied, "I heard a

man saying, when he shot me, Take that! I am Ibn al-Aqlah.'"

"The Aqlahi!" she exclaimed, and vowed that if God put her in

possession of 'Asim’s skull she would drink wine from it. 'Asim

had made a compact with God that he would never touch a polytheist

and that no polytheist should touch him.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— al-Qasim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Rafi', the brother of the Banu

'Adi b. al-Najjar: Anas b. al-Nadr, the paternal uncle of Anas b.

Malik, went to 'Umar b. al-Khattab and Talhah b. 'Ubayd Allah,

who were with some of the Emigrants and the Ansar who had

given up the fight. "Why have you stopped fighting?" he asked.

"Muhammad, the Messenger of God, has been killed," they

replied. "What will you do with life after him?" he said. "Rise up

and die as the Messenger of God has died!" Then he went towards

the enemy and fought until he was killed. Anas b. Malik was

named after him. 177

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Humayd al-Tawil — Anas b. Malik: That day we found seventy

cuts and stab wounds on Anas b. al-Nadr, and nobody but his sister

could recognise him. She recognised him by the beauty of his

fingertips.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq:

The first man to recognise the Messenger of God after the defeat

and the rumour that the Messenger of God had been killed was,

according to Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri, Ka'b b. Malik the brother of the

177. Anas b. Malik was an important Companion, source of many Hadlth.

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123

Banu Salimah. (He said,) "I recognised his eyes shining beneath

his helmet and I called out at the top of my voice, 'Muslims, rejoice!

This is the Messenger of God!"' The Messenger of God (1407)

signed to me to be silent. When the Muslims recognised the Messenger

of God, they went up with him towards the gorge. 17 * With

him were 'All b. Abl Talib, Abu Bakr b. Abi Quhafah, 'Umar b. al-

Khattab, Talhah b. 'Ubayd Allah, al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam, al-

Harith b. al-Simmah, and a number of other Muslims. As the

Messenger of God was climbing up the gorge, he was overtaken

by Ubayy b. Khalaf, who was saying, "Where is Muhammad? May

I not escape if you escape!" They said, "0 Messenger of God, shall

one of us go over and deal with him?" "Leave him," he said.

When he drew close, the Messenger of God took a javelin from al-

Harith b. al-Simmah. I have been told that some people say that

when the Messenger of God took it, he shook us off, so that we

flew off from him like camel-flies from a camel’s back when it

shakes itself. Then he confronted (Ubayy) and gave him such a

thrust in the neck that he swayed in the saddle several times.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Salih b. Ibrahim b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. 'Awf: Ubayy b. Khalaf

used to meet the Messenger of God in Mecca and say to him,

"Muhammad, I have a horse called al-'Awd, whom I feed every

day on a measure ( faraq ) of millet. I shall kill you on it." "Not

so," said the Messenger of God. "I shall kill you, if God wills."

When he went back to Quraysh with a scratch on his throat

which was not particularly large and in which the blood had

stopped flowing, he said, "By God, Muhammad has killed me."

"By God, you have lost heart," they answered, "by God, there is

nothing wrong with you." He replied, "He said to me in Mecca, 'I

will kill you,' and, by God, even if he spat on me he would kill

me." The enemy of God died at Sarif as they were taking him

back to Mecca.

When the Messenger of God got to the mouth of the gorge, 'All

went out and filled his shield from al-Mihras and brought it to the

Messenger of God so that he could drink from it. He thought it

178. The gorge was some feature of the lower slopes of the hill of Uhud where

the Muslims were safe from the Meccan cavalry, the place called "the rock" was

presumably nearby.

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had an unpleasant smell, however, and he felt so disgusted by it

that he would not drink. He washed the blood from his face and

poured the water over his head, saying, "May God’s anger be intense

against those who have bloodied the face of His Prophet."

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Salih b. Kaysan — somebody who told him from Sa'd b. Abi

Waqqas: Sa'd used to say, "By God, I never thirsted to kill anyone

as I thirsted to kill TJtbah b. Abi Waqqas. 179 Even if I had not

known that he was evil of character and hated among his own

people, the Messenger of God’s saying, 'May God’s anger be intense

against those who have bloodied the face of the Messenger

of God,' would have been enough for me."

According to Muhammad b. al-Husayn — Ahmad b. al-Mufaddal —

Asbat — al-Suddi: Ibn Qami’ah al-Harithi, one of the Banu

al-Harith b. 'Abd Manat b. Kinanah, came and threw a stone at

the Messenger of God, breaking his nose and his lateral incisor,

splitting his face open, and stunning him. His companions dispersed

and abandoned him, some of them going to Medina and

some of them climbing up the mountain (of Uhud) to the rock,

and standing there. The Messenger began calling out to his army,

"To me, servants of God! To me, servants of God!" Thirty men

gathered round him and moved forward ahead of him, but none

stood their ground except Talhah and Sahl b. Hunayf. Talhah protected

him from behind and was wounded in the hand by an arrow,

as a result of which his hand withered. Ubayy b. Khalaf al-

Jumahi — who had sworn to kill the Prophet, and to whom the

latter had replied, "No, I will kill you" — advanced

saying, "Where will you flee to now, you liar!" He charged at

him, but the Prophet gave him a thrust in the collar of his coat of

mail which wounded him lightly. He fell down bellowing like an

ox, and they picked him up and said, "You are not wounded, so

there is nothing to worry about." He replied, "Did he not say, 'I

will kill you'? If this wound had been inflicted on the whole of

Rabi'ah and Mudar 1 ® 0 it would have killed them." In no more than

»

a day or so he died of that wound.

179. 'Utbah was Sard's brother but had remained a pagan, whereas Sa'd was one

of the earliest Muslims.

180. Two great groups of tribes.

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125

The rumour spread among the army that the Messenger of God

had been killed. Some of the people on the rock began to say,

"Would that we had an envoy to 'Abd Allah b. Ubayy, so that he

could secure our safety from Abu Sufyan! Muhammad has been

killed, so go back to your people before the Meccans come and

kill you." Anas b. al-Nadr, however, called out, "Men, if Muhammad

has been killed, the Lord of Muhammad has not been

killed, so fight as Muhammad fought. O God, I apologise to you

for what these people are saying, and I disavow before you what

they have done." Then he rushed at the enemy with his sword

and fought until he was killed.

The Messenger of God set off uphill, calling upon his men to

follow, and soon reached the people on the rock. When they saw

him, one man put an arrow in his bow and would have shot him,

but he said, "I am the Messenger of God." They rejoiced when

they realised that the Messenger of God was alive, and the Messenger

of God rejoiced when he saw companions among whom he

could hold out.

When they regrouped with the Messenger of God among them,

their sorrow vanished, and, as they climbed up, they spoke of how

the victory had eluded them and of their companions who had

been killed. To those who said, "Muhammad has been killed, so

go back to your people," God said, "Muhammad is but a messenger,

messengers (the like of whom| have passed away before him.

Will it be that, when he dieth or is slain, ye will turn back on your

heels! He who turneth back doth no hurt to Allah, and Allah will

reward the thankful." 1 "

Then Abu Sufyan advanced until he was nearly upon them.

When they saw him, they forgot what they had been about and directed

their attention to Abu Sufyan. The Messenger of God said,

"These men must not get to a higher position than ours! O God, if

this band of people is killed, you will have no worshippers!" Then

his companions bestirred themselves and threw stones at the enemy

which forced them to retreat downhill.

On that day Abu Sufyan said, "Hubal be exalted! A Hanzalah

for a Hanzalah, and a day for the day of Badr." 1M On the day (of

181. Qur. 3.144.

182. Hubal was a prominent Meccan deity. Muhammad is alleged to have said

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Uhud) they had killed Hanzalah b. al-Rahib, who was in a state of

ritual impurity and was cleansed by the angels, while Hanzalah b.

Abi Sufyan had been killed on the day of Badr. Abu Sufyan said,

We have "Al-'Uzza, and you have no 'Uzza." ,M The Messenger

of God said to 'Umar, "Say, 'God is our Lord, and you have no

Lord."' Abu Sufyan said, "Is Muhammad among you? Some of

your dead have been mutilated. I neither commanded this nor forbade

it, and it neither gave me pleasure nor saddened me."

God spoke of Abu Sufyan's approaching them and said, "Therefore,

He rewarded you with grief upon grief that (He might teach)

you not to sorrow either for that which ye missed or for that

which befell you." 184 The first grief is the victory and booty which

eluded them, and the second grief is the enemy's approaching

[14.11) them; they were not to grieve for the booty which eluded them,

nor the memory of the killing which was inflicted upon them.

Abu Sufyan distracted them from this.

According to Abu fa'far (al-Tabari) — Ibn Humayd — Salamah

— Ibn Ishaq: While the Messenger of God was in the gorge with

those companions of his, suddenly a group of Quraysh came up

the mountain. The Messenger of God said, "They should not be

above us," so 'Umar and a group of Emigrants with him fought

until they forced them to retreat down the mountain. The Messenger

of God went up to the rock on the mountain to get on top

of it. He had become stout with age and was wearing two coats of

mail. When he tried to climb up, he could not manage to do so,

and Talhah b. 'Ubayd Allah bent down beneath him and then rose

up until the Messenger of God was settled on the rock.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad (b. Ishaq)

— Yahya b. 'Abbad b. 'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr — his father — 'Abd

Allah b. al-Zubayr — al-Zubayr: I heard the Messenger of God

saying on that day, "Talhah performed an action deserving of reward

when he did what he did for the Messenger of God."

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) says: The army had fled and abandoned

the Messenger of God, some of them getting as far as al-Munaqqa,

after the death of Hanzalah b. Abi f Amir (al-Rahib) that he was being washed by

the angels (1412 below and 1 H, 568).

183. The name of the goddess al-'Uzza means "the mighty one."

184. Qur. 3.153? Pickthall's translation has been lightly modified to correspond

to al-Tabari's understanding of the verse.

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127

near al-A'was. 'Uthman b. 'Affan, together with 'Uqbah b. 'Uthman

and Sa'd b. 'Uthman, two men of the Ansar, fled as far as al-

Jal'ab, a mountain in the neighbourhood of Medina, near al-

A'wa§. ,M They stayed there for three days, and then came back to

the Messenger of God. They claimed that he said to them, "On

that day you were scattered far and wide."

Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) says: Hanzalah b. Abi 'Amir, he whom the

angels cleansed, met Abu Sufyan b. Harb in battle. He had gained

the better of Abu Sufyan when Shaddad b. al-Aswad, who was

known as Ibn Sha'ub, seeing him poised over Abu Sufyan, struck

and killed him. The Messenger of God said, "Your companion

(meaning Hanzalah) is being cleansed by the angels. Ask his family

what this is about." When they asked his wife, she replied,

"He went out to battle in a state of ritual impurity when he heard

the call to battle." The Messenger of God said, "That is why the

angels were cleansing him."

Shaddad b. al-Aswad said of his killing of Hanzalah:

Verily I protect my companion and myself

with a thrust swift as a sunbeam.

Extolling his endurance on that day and the way in which Ibn

Sha'ub Shaddad b al-Aswad came to his assistance against

Hanzalah, Abu Sufyan said:

Had I wished, my thoroughbred bay horse could have

rescued me,

and I should owe no thanks to Ibn Sha'ub.

My colt kept a short distance from them

from morning until near sunset

I was fighting them and calling out, "Men of Ghalib!"

and driving them off with unbending strength 1 * 6

So weep, and pay no attention to those who reprove you.

And do not weary of tears and lamentation.

185. There is a reference to the conduct of 'Uthman, the later caliph, in W, 278!.

W,277 says Sa'd b. 'Uthman, an Ansari, was the first to inform those in Medina

that Muhammad was dead.

186. Ghalib was the son of Fihr (Quraysh) from whom nearly all the clans of

Mecca were descended; see Watt, Mecca, 7.

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n8 The Foundation of the Community

For your father and his brothers who followed one another

to death,

for they are worthy of their share of tears

My soul's grief has been consoled by the fact that

I have killed every noble of the Banu al-Najjar

A noble stallion of Hashim, and Mus'ab

who was not fearful in war. 187

If I had not slaked my soul's thirst for vengeance on them,

my heart would have been grieved and scarred

They retired, their companies dead,

covered with sword wounds, bleeding and dejected.

Stricken by those who were not equal to them in blood,

nor similar to them in quality. 188

He was answered by Hassan b. Thabit: 189

You have spoken of the proud-necked stallions of the

people of Hashim

but you have not hit the mark in the falsehood you

have uttered

Do you marvel that you have killed Hamzah from them,

a noble, whom you name a noble?

Did they not kill ‘Amr, 'Utbah and his son,

Shaybah, al-Hajjaj and Ibn Habib

On the morning when al-'As challenged 'Ali,

and he surprised him with a sharp blow which drenched

him with blood?

Shaddad b. al-Aswad, speaking of the benefit he had conferred

upon Abu Sufyan b. Harb in coming to his rescue, said:

If not for my being present and defending you, Ibn Harb,

you would have been found speechless on the day when

we fought in the mountain valley.

187. The claim to have killed the nobles of the clan of al-Najjar (of Medina)

seems exaggerated. The stallion of Hashim is Hamzah, and Mus*ab is a Muslim

from the Meccan clan of *Abd al-Dar.

188. He presumably means that the Muslims were inferior in quality to those

who killed them.

189. See Diwan, ed. Arafat, i.446; ii.315. The Meccans killed at Badr and men-

tioned here by Hassan include *Amr (who is Abu Jahl), 'Utbah b. Rabrah, al-Walid

b. 'Utbah, Shaybah b. 'Utbah, and al-'As b. Sa'id; but the others are not clearly

identifiable.

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129

If I had not wheeled my horse round in the mountain

valley,

hyenas and rabid dogs would have mangled your limbs.

Replying to Abu Sufyan's words, "My colt kept a short distance

from them," al-Harith b. Hisham, 190 who thought he was alluding

to him as he had fled from Badr, said:

If you had seen what they did at the pool of Badr,

You would have gone back with a heart which would be

terror-struck as long as you lived.

Or mourning-women would have risen up to bewail you,

and you would not care about the loss of a loved one.

I requited them later for Badr with its like,

mounted on a swift, smoothly-moving, galloping

horse.

Mutilation of the Muslim Dead

According to Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) — Ibn Humayd — Salamah

— Muhammad b. Ishaq — Salih b. Kaysan: Hind bt. 'Utbah and the

women who were with her stopped to mutilate the Messenger of

God's dead companions, cutting off their ears and noses until

Hind was able to make anklets and necklaces of them. She gave

her own anklets, necklaces, and earrings to Wahshi, the slave of

Jubayr b. Mut'im. Then she ripped open Hamzah's body for his

liver and chewed it, but she was not able to swallow it and spat it

out. Then she climbed a high rock and screamed at the top of her

voice the lines of verse which she had spoken when they took

possession of the booty they had seized from the companions of

the Messenger of God.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq —

Salih b. Kaysan: ‘Umar b. al-Khattab said to Hassan, "Ibn al-

190. Al-Harith b. Hisham b. al-Mughirah, a full brother of Abu Jahl, had fled

from Badr; he became a Muslim at the conquest of Mecca.

Nisi

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i 30 The Foundation of the Community

Furay'ah , 191 1 wish you had heard what Hind was saying and seen

her insolence as she stood on a rock reciting rajaz - poetry against

us and recounting how she had treated Hamzah." Hassan said,

"By God, I was watching the javelin falling as I was on top of Fari'

(meaning his 'stronghold'), and I said to myself, 'By God, this is a

weapon which is not one of the weapons of the Arabs.' It seemed

to be falling towards Hamzah, but I did not know. Tell me some

of what she said, and I will deal with her for you." 'Umar recited

part of what she had said to him, and he satirized Hind as fol-lows: 192

The vile woman was insolent, and she was habitually base,

since she combined insolence with disbelief.

May God curse Hind, distinguished among Hinds, she with

the large clitoris,

and may he curse her husband with her.

Did she set out for Uhud on an ambling camel,

among the army on a saddled camel-colt?

A slow-paced camel which would not move,

whether scolded or rebuked.

Spur on your mount with your backside, Hind,

and soften sinews, pounding them with a stone

Her backside and her genitals are covered with ulcers

as a result of prolonged swift travel in the saddle.

Her companion continued to treat her

with water which she sprinkled and with sidr-leaves.

Did you set out hastily in search of vengeance

for your father and your son on the day of Badr?

And for your uncle, who was wounded in the backside, lying in

his blood,

and your brother, all of them coated in dust in the well?

And did you forget a foul deed which you committed?

Hind, woe to you, the shame of the age.

191. Al-Furay'ah bt. Khunays was the mother of Hassan b. Thabit. The form of

address is respectful and is a relic of the former matriliny at Medina.

192. Diwan, ed. Arafat, i.384f. The kinsmen for whom she sought vengeance

were her father 'Utbah b. Rabrah, her stepson Hanzalah b. Abi Sufyan, her uncle

Shaybah b. Rabi'ah and her brother al-Walld b. 'Utbah.

The Events of the Year 3 1 3 1

And you went back humbled, without obtaining

vengeance on us and without victory.

Slave girls claim that they give birth

to a small child as a result of fornication.

According to Abu Ja'far (al-Tabari) — Harun b. Ishaq — Mus'ab

b. al-Miqdam — Isra’il: Then Abu Sufyan went up to the Muslims.

According to Ibn Waki' — his father — Isra’il — Abu Ishaq — al-

Bara’: Then Abu Sufyan came up to us and said, "Is Muhammad

among you?" The Messenger of God said, "Do not answer him

the first two times." Then he said three times, "Is Ibn Abi

Quhafah 1 ’ 3 among you?" but the Messenger of God said, "Do not

answer him." Then he said three times, "Is Ibn al-Khattab among

you?" but the Messenger of God said, "Do not answer him."

Then he turned to his companions and said, "These people must

have been killed, for if they were alive they would have answered."

Then 'Umar b. al-Khattab could not restrain himself,

and said, "You lie, enemy of God. God has preserved for you that

which will disgrace you." Then Abu Sufyan said, "Be exalted,

Hubal, be exalted, Hubal!"

Then the Messenger of God said, "Answer him!" "What shall

we say?" they asked. "Say, 'God is most exalted and most lofty,"'

he replied. Abu Sufyan said, "We have al-'Uzza, and you have no

'Uzza (mighty one)." The Messenger of God said, "Answer him."

"What shall we say?" they asked. "Say, 'God is our Lord, and you

have no lord,' " he replied. Abu Sufyan said, "A day for the day of

Badr. War has its ups and downs. You will find that some of your

dead have been mutilated. I did not command it, nor did it displease me."

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq: When

'Umar answered Abu Sufyan, Abu Sufyan said, "Come here,

'Umar." The Messenger of God said to him, "Go to him, and see

what he wants." So he went, and Abu Sufyan said to him, "In

God's name, 'Umar, tell me; have we killed Muhammad?" "No,

by God," said 'Umar, he is listening to what you are saying now."

193. Abu Bakr.

194. IH, 583; but the following passage about al-Hulays is on p.582.

The Foundation of the Community

13a

He replied, "You are more truthful and more upright than Ibn

Qami’ah in my opinion." This was referring to Ibn Qami’ah's having

claimed that he had killed Muhammad. Then Abu Sufyan

called out and said, "Some of your dead have been mutilated. By

God, I neither approved of this nor was I displeased with it, and I

neither forbade it nor commanded it."

Al-Hulays b. Zabban, the brother of the Banu al-Harith b. 'Abd

Manat, who was then the chief of the Ahabish, had passed by Abu

Sufyan b. Harb as he was striking the side of Hamzah's mouth

with the point of his spear and saying, "Taste that, you rebel! " Al-

Hulays said, "Banu Kinanah, can this be the chief of Quraysh acting

as you see with the dead body of his cousin?" "Keep it quiet,"

Abu Sufyan said. "It was a slip."

When Abu Sufyan and those with him left, he shouted out,

"Your rendezvous is Badr next year." The Messenger of God said

to one of his companions, "Say, 'Yes, it is a rendezvous between

us and you.'" Then the Messenger of God sent 'Ali b. Abi Talib,

saying, "Go out following in the tracks of the enemy, and see

what they are doing and what they intend doing. If they are leading

their horses and riding their camels, they are making for

Mecca, but if they are riding their horses and leading their camels,

they are making for Medina. By the one who has my soul in

his hands, if they are making for Medina, I shall go to them there

and take the field against them!"

'All said, "So I went out in their tracks to see what they were

doing. They mounted their camels, led their horses and set off for

Mecca. 195 The Messenger of God had said, 'Whichever it is, keep it

to yourself until you come to me.' But when I saw them setting

off for Mecca, I came shouting, unable to conceal what the Messenger

of God had commanded me to conceal because of the joy I

felt at seeing them leaving Medina for Mecca."

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Muhammad b. 'Abd Allah b. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Sa'sa'ah al-

■ • • #

MazinI, the brother of the Banu al-Najjar: While the people were

occupying themselves with their dead, the Messenger of God

said, "Who will look for me to see weather Sa e d b. al-Rabr is

among the living or the dead?" Sa'd was the brother of the Banu

195. The following words spoken by *AlI are not found in IH.

The Events of the Year 3

133

al-Harith b. al-Khazraj. A man of the Ansar offered to look on behalf

of the Messenger of God. When he found Sa'd lying wounded

among the dead, and himself at the point of death, he said to him,

"The Messenger of God has commanded me to see for him

whether you are among the living or the dead." He replied, "I am

among the dead. Give the Messenger of God my greetings, and

tell him that Sa'd b. al-Rabi' says to him, 'May God give you the

best reward that any prophet has been given in his community.'

Give your people my greetings, and tell them that Sa'd b. al-Rabi'

says to them, 'You have no excuse in God's sight if anybody

reaches your Prophet while you have an eye that blinks.'" Sa'd

died soon after, and the man went to the Messenger of God and

told him the story.

Then, as I (Ibn Ishaq) have been told, the Messenger of God

went out in search of Hamzah b 'Abd al-Muttalib, and found him

at the bottom of the wadi; his belly had been ripped open and his

liver removed, and he had been mutilated by the cutting off of his

nose and ears.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Ibn Ishaq — Muhammad

b. Ja'far b. al-Zubayr: When the Messenger of God saw Hamzah in

that condition, he said, "If it were not that Safiyyah 196 would

grieve, or that it would become a sunnah (standard practice) after

me, I would leave him so that he would find his way into the bellies

of wild beasts or the crops of birds. If God gives me victory

over Quraysh at any time, I shall mutilate thirty of their men!"

When the Muslims saw the grief and rage of the Messenger of

God at what had been done to his uncle, they said, "By God, if one

day we are victorious over them, we shall mutilate them in a way

which none of the Arabs has ever mutilated anybody."

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— Buraydah b. Sufyan b. Farwah al-Aslami — Muhammad

b. Ka'b al-Qurazi — Ibn 'Abbas; and (also) Ibn Humayd — Salamah

— Muhammad b. Ishaq — al-Hasan b. 'Umarah — al-Hakam b.

'Utaybah — Miqsam — Ibn 'Abbas: God revealed concerning these

sayings of the Messenger of God and his companions, "If ye punish,

then punish with the like of that wherewith ye were afflicted.

196. Safiyyah bt. 'Abd al-Muttalib was Hamzah's full sister and Muhammad's

aunt.

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The Foundation of the Community

But if ye endure patiently, verily it is better for the patient ..." to

the end of the Surah. 197 So the Messenger of God forgave, was patient,

and forbade mutilation.

Ibn Ishaq says: I have been told that Safiyyah bt. 'Abd al-

Muttalib came up to look at Hamzah, who was her full brother.

The Messenger of God said to her son, al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam,

"Go to meet her and turn her back so that she does not see what

has happened to her brother." Al-Zubayr met her and said to her,

"Mother, the Messenger of God commands you to go back." She

said, "Why? I have heard that my brother has been mutilated, but

that is a small thing for the sake of God, and I am fully resigned to

what has happened. I shall accept God's will and be patient if God

will." Al-Zubayr went to the Messenger of God and told him this,

and he said, "Let her come." She came to (Hamzah), looked at

him, prayed over him, exclaimed, "We belong to God and to him

do we return," and prayed for his forgiveness. Then the Messenger

of God gave orders for him to be buried.

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq:

'Abd Allah b. Jahsh, the son of Umaymah bt. 'Abd al-Muttalib,

who had Hamzah as his maternal uncle, was mutilated in the

same way as Hamzah, except that his liver was not ripped out.

Some of his family claim that the Messenger of God buried him

along with Hamzah in one grave; but I have only heard that from

his family.

Various Accounts Concerning Uhud

According to Ibn Humayd — Salamah — Muhammad b. Ishaq

— 'Asim b. 'Umar b. Qatadah — Mahmud b. Labid: 198 When the

Messenger of God went out to Uhud, Husayl b. Jabir — who was

al-Yaman, the father of Hudhayfah b. al-Yaman — and Thabit b.

Waqsh b. Za'ura’, who were very old men, were sent up into the

strongholds with the women and children. One of them said to

197. Qur. 16.126-8. Al-Tabari has a fuller isnad for this section than IH.

198. IH, 577. Al-Yaman was a nickname ( laqab ) given to Husayl because he (or

an ancestor) had incurred blood-guilt in his own tribe and fled to Medina, where

he became a confederate of the clan of 'Abd al-Ashhal, which like all the Ansar

was reckoned to the group known as al-Yaman. See Ibn al-Athir, Usd al-ghabah,

s.v. Hudhayfah b. al-Yaman.

The Events of the Year 3

I3S

the other, however, "What are you waiting for, confound you? By

God, neither of us has more of his life left than it takes a donkey

to drink. We will both , be corpses today or tomorrow, so let us

take our swords and join the Messenger of God, and perhaps God

will grant us martyrdom with the Messenger of God." So they

took their swords and went out, entering the ranks without anyone

being aware of them. Thabit b. Waqsh was killed by the polytheists,

but Husayl b. Jabir al-Yaman was killed by Muslims who

failed to recognise him and rained sword blows on him. Hudhayfah

said, "This is my father." They said, "By God, we did not

recognise him," and they spoke the truth. "May God forgive

you," said Hudhayfah, "for he is the most merciful of the merciful."

The Messenger of God wanted to pay him blood-money, but

Hudhayfah distributed his blood-money as alms to the Muslims,

which increased the Messenger of God's high regard for him.