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

IMAM ABU AL-FIDA' ISMA'IL IBN KATH~R 443
"'The Messenger of God (SAAS) moved away to the right, calling out,
"Where are you going, men? Come to me; I am the Messenger of God! I am
Muhammad, son of 'Abd Alli~h!"
"'But it did no good. The camels were all over one another. When the
Messenger of God (SAAS) saw the state of the men ..."I With him a group of
men of his family: 'Ali b. Abii Talib, Ahn Sufym h. d-HiIrith, 'Ahd al-Muffalib
and his brother Rabi'a b. al-Harith b. 'Abd al-Muttalib and al-Fad1 b. al-'Abbiis.
And, it is said, al-Fad1 b. Abn Sufyan, AymiIn b. Umm Ayman, Us- b. Zayd.
Some include with them Qutham b. d-'Ahbas, along with a group of muhzjzrin,
including Aha Bakr and 'Umar.
'"Al-'Abbs was gripping the mouth-ring of his white donkey that he was
riding, having struck it to open its mouth."""
He (Ibn Ishsq) continued, "There was one man of Hawazin mounted on a red
camel who carried a black banner on the end of a long spear; he was ahead of and
leading Hawazin who were behind him. When he overtook someone, he would
thrust his spear at him; if he missed the man, then he would raise his spear as a
sign to those behind him and they would follow the man.
"While he was engaged in this, 'Ali h. Abii Talib fell upon hi, accompanied
by an anrari 'Ali approached him from behind and struck the hocks of the camel
and it fell on its rump. The ansari then leapt on the man and gave him a blow
that severed his foot, along with half his leg, so that he fell from his saddle.
"The men went on fighting hard and when those who had fled in defeat
returned, they found bound prisoners assembled near the Messenger of God
(SAAS)."
Imm Ahad narrated this from Ya'qiih h. Ibrzhim al-Zuhri, from his father,
from Muhammad h. Ishaq.
Ibn Ishaq continued, "The Messenger of God (SAAS) turned to Abn Sufyan b.
al-Harith b. 'Abd d-Muttalib, who was one of those who had stood fast that day
and had well and truly accepted Islam and was holding the back of the saddle of
the Messenger of God (SAAS) and asked, 'Who is this?' Abii Sufyzn replied,
'I'm your mother's son, Messenger of God.'"
Ibn Ishaq went on, "When the enemy had been defeated, some of the Arab
toughs began to reveal their ill-will. Aha Sufym Sakhr b. @arb(whose acceptance
of Islam was still fresh and who was still that day carrying divining arrows) said,
131. The Arabic printed text is defective at this point. The account, as given in Guillaume's
translation, continues as follows: "The men ran away, except that a number of Muhajirs and Ansa
and men of his family remained with the apostle. Of the M ~jirs who stood firm were Abii Bakr
and 'Umar; of his family ..." From this point the Arabic printed text *ems intact, as above.
132. At this point the Arabic text seems defective and ill-ordered. In Ibn Ishaq's account as
translated by Guillaume, this quotation is part of a separate passage quoting the words of the father
ofKathir h. alL'Abhas. See Guillaume, g. at. p.569.