The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Ibn Kathir - Volume 3 of 4

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATH~R 187
an enmity similar to that of Ibn al-Ashraf; they thought of Ibn Aha al-Huqayq,
who was at Khaybar. They therefore asked permission of the Messenger of God
(SAAS) to kill him, and he agreed.
"'Five men of Khazraj, of Banii Salama, then set out to do this. They were
'Ahd All& b.'Atik, Mas'iid b. Sinan, 'Abd Allah b. Unays, Abii Qatada al-Harith
b. Rib'i, and Khuza'a b. Aswad, an ally of theirs from Banii Aslam. The Messenger
of God (SAAS) placed 'Abd Allah b. 'Atik in command of them and told them
to refrain from killing any woman or children.
"'It was night when they arrived at the compound of Ibn Abii al-Huqayq.
They took care to close all the doors upon those who lived there. He himself
was in an upper chamber reached by a ladder. They climbed it, reached his door
and asked to come in. His wife came out to them and asked who they were. They
replied that they were bedouin seeking supplies. She told them they had come
to the right man and let them in."'
The account proceeds, "'When we went in, we shut him and ourselves inside
the room, fearing someone might interfere between us. His wife screamed and
gave him warning about us, but we set upon him with our swords while he was
still in bed. I swear it was only his whiteness - like that of a Coptic dress lying
there - that showed us where he was in the black of the night. As his wife
screamed, we raised our swords to her, hut remembered what the Messenger of
God (SAAS) had forbidden and lowered them again. We would otherwise have
killed her too that night. As we struck him with our swords, 'Abd Allah b. Unays
plunged his into his stomach and pierced him through, as he said the words,
"Qapli! Qapli!" "That's enough! That's enough!"
"'Then we left. 'Abd Allah b. 'Auk had poor sight and he fell off the ladder
and severely sprained his arm. We carried him off into a water channel at one of
their wells. They (Sallzm's people) lit torches and chased all around looking for
us, but gave up and assembled around him as he expired.
"'We wondered how we could ascertain that he had died, so one of us
suggested that he would go back to see. He mingled with those there and reported
how he had seen her - Sal%nim's wife - holding a torch and telling people as she
looked into his face, "I swear, I heard the voice of Ibn 'Atik. But then I told
myself I must he wrong, because there was no way he could be in these parts!"
She then went close and, looking into his face, said, "He's dead, by the God of
the Jews!" And I swear, I never heard words sweeter to me than those!
"'When he returned and told us this, we carried our companion away and
reported to the Messenger of God (SAAS) the death of God's enemy. When
with hi, we argued over which of us had actually killed him, each of us claimimg
it. He then said, LLHand me your swords." When we did so, he examined them
and said of the sword of 'Abd Allah b. Anis, "This one killed him; I can see food
traces on it.""'
Ibn Ishaq stated, "Hassm b. Thabit spoke the following verses on this,