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

378 THE LIFE OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD
d-Dili, Salmz, Kulthm and Dhu'ayb, leaders who were the pride of Bann
Kinma, and killed them at 'Arafa at the boundary rocks marking the sacred area.
"A man of al-Dil related to me that Banii al-Aswad b. Rizn, due to their high
prestige, were paid double blood-wit in the pre-Islamic period, while Banii d-Dil
received single blood-wit.
"While Banii Bakr and Khuzz'a were engaged in this conflict, Islam came
between them. When the agreement at d-Hudaybiyya was made, Bana Bakr
made a pact with Quraysh, as did Khuzz% with the Messenger of God (SAAS).
Then the truce went into effect. But Banii al-Dil, (a clan) of Banii Bakr, used it
to gain revenge from Khus'a for the men killed. Nawfal b. Mu'zwiya d-Dili went
out at the command of their men; not all of BanG Bakr followed him, however.
He attacked Khuzz'a, killing one of their men, at al-Watir, a well of theirs. The
sides then disengaged, then battled on. Quraysh supplied Bann Bakr with
weapons and some of them participated in the fighting, using the dark of night
to conceal their identity, until eventually they forced Khuz~% inside the sacred
territory. Once inside it, Bann Bakr pointed out to Nawfal, 'We have entered the
sacred territory! (Think of) your God! Your God!' He (Nawfal) then said an
awful thing, 'There is no God today! Bann Bakr, gain your revenge! I swear by my
life that you steal within the sacred area, so can you not also gain your revenge?'
"Khuz~% took refuge in the house of Budayl b. Warq~' in Mecca and in that
of a freed-man of theirs named &ti'. Al-Akhzar b. Lu'r al-Dili spoke the
following verses on this subject,
'Have the people of furthest Abyssinia learned that we
defeated Banii Ka'b with our arrow heads?
We imprisoned them in the home of the slave kfi', and
also with Budayl we kept them, inactive.
In the home of a base and passive man, once we had
satisfied our anger by the use of our swords,
we confined them to their great distress, having
descended upon them Fie a rain torrent from a mountain
gully
Slaughtering them like goats, as if we were lions,
slashing our swords into them.
They had wronged us and acted aggressively and were the
first to murder at the sacred boundary,
So scared when attacked that they were like ostrich
chicks, their flight blocked by Mt. Thawr.'
"Budayl b. 'Abd Manat b. Sdama b. 'Amr b. al-Ajabb, known as Budayl b. Umm
Asram, answered him back with the following verses:
'A boastful people made a pact, but we have left them
only Nzfii as their chief to assemble them.
Was it fear of the prime people, whom you disdain, that
you went beyond al-Watir, panicking, not to reurn?