English translation
[4678] 132 - (1807) Iyâs bin Salamah narrated: "My father said: 'We came to Al-Hudaibiyah with the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and we were fourteen hundred strong. They had fifty sheep that they could not water. The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ sat at the edge of the well, and he either offered supplication or spat into the well, then the water welled up, and we drank and gave water to the animals. Then the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ called upon us to swear allegiance at the foot of the tree. I swore allegiance to him with the first of the people, then one group after another swore allegiance to him. Then when the people were halfway done, he said: "Swear allegiance, O Salamah!" I said: "I swore allegiance to you, O Messenger of Allâh, with the first of the people." He said: "Do it again." And the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ saw that I had no weapon, so the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ gave me a large shield or a small shield, then I swore allegiance to him again. Then when he reached the last of the people, he said: "Will you not swear allegiance to me, O Salamah?" I said: "I have sworn allegiance to you, O Messenger of Allâh, with the first of the people and when the people were halfway done." He said: "Do it again." So I swore allegiance to him a third time. Then he said to me: "O Salamah, where is the shield that I gave you?" I said: "O Messenger of Allâh, my paternal uncle 'Amir met me and he had no weapon, so I gave it to him." The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ smiled and said: "You are like the one who said in the past: 'O Allâh, give me a friend who is dearer to me than my own self.'" Then the idolaters sent an offer of peace, so we started to mix with one another and we concluded a truce. I was a servant of Talhah bin 'Ubaidullâh; I used to water and groom his horse, and serve him, and I ate from his food. I had left behind my family and wealth to emigrate in the cause of Allâh and to join His Messenger ﷺ. When we made peace with the people of Makkah and began to mix with one another, I came to a tree, swept away its thorns and lay down at its base. Then four of the idolaters from Makkah came to me and started to speak ill of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ. I got angry with them and I moved to another tree, and they hung up their weapons and lay down. While they were like that, a caller cried out from the bottom of the valley: "O Muhâjirîn! Ibn Zunaim has been killed!" I drew my sword and attacked those four men while they slept, and I took their weapons and gathered them in my hand. Then I said: "By the One Who has honored the face of Muhammad, none of you will raise his head but I will strike his face." Then I brought them to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ, and my paternal uncle 'Âmir brought a man from Al-'Abalât who was called Mikraz, leading him to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ on a horse with a thick covering on its back, along with seventy of the idolaters. The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ looked at them and said: "Let them go, so that it may be proven that they are evildoers from beginning to end." So the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ pardoned them, then Allâh revealed (the words): 'And He it is Who has withheld their hands from you and your hands from them in the midst of Makkah, after He had made you victors over them.'[1] Then we set out back to Al-Madīnah, and we made a stop where there was a mountain between us and Banī Lihyân, who were idolaters. The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ prayed for forgiveness for the one who would climb the mountain that night as a scout for the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions. I climbed that mountain two or three times. Then we came to Al-Madīnah and the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ sent his mounts with Rabâh, the slave of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ, and I went with him. I also took out the horse of Ṭalḥah, to let it graze with the other mounts. The next morning, ‘Abdur-Raḥmân Al-Fazârī had raided the mounts of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and driven them all away, and had killed the herdsman. I said: “O Rabâh, take this horse and go to Ṭalḥah bin ‘Ubaidullâh, and tell the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ that the idolaters have raided his mounts.” Then I stood on a hillock and turned to face Al-Madīnah, and I called out three times: Yâ Ṣabâhâh! (a cry of alarm). Then I set off in pursuit of the people, shooting arrows at them, and reciting lines of poetry, saying: “I am the son of Al-Akwa’ And today is the day when the ignoble meet their doom.” I caught up with one of them, and shot an arrow that went through his saddle and pierced his shoulder, and I said: "Take that!" "I am the son of Al-Akwa' And today is the day when the ignoble meet their doom." He said: 'By Allâh, I kept shooting at them and killing their mounts; every time a horseman came back towards me, I went to a tree and sat at its foot, then I shot him and killed his horse. Then when the mountains narrowed in and they entered a narrow gorge, I climbed up the mountain and started repelling them with stones, and I kept following them until I managed to recapture all the camels of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and they gave up. But I pursued them, shooting at them, until they dropped more than thirty cloaks and thirty spears in order to lighten their loads. They did not throw down anything but I put a stone on it as a marker for the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and his Companions to recognize it. Then they came to a narrow pass, and so-and-so the son of Badr Al-Fazârî came to them, and they sat down to eat lunch. I sat atop a stone and Al-Fazârî said: "What is this that I see?" They said: "By Allâh, yesterday we encountered this one and he has not left us since it was dark; he kept shooting at us until he took everything that was in our hands." He said: "Four of you should get up and rush at him." So four of them climbed up the mountain towards me, and when it became possible to talk, I said: "Do you know me?" They said: "No, who are you?" I said: "I am Salamah bin Al-Akwa', and by the One Who has honored the face of Muḥammad, I will not pursue any man among you but I will catch him, but no man among you who pursues me will catch me." One of them said: "I think (he is right)." So they went back, but I did not move from that place until I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ riding through the trees. The first of them was Al-Akḥram Al-Asâdî, after whom came Abû Qatâdah Al-Anṣârî, after whom came Al-Miqdâd bin Al-Aswad Al-Kindî. I took hold of the reins of Al-Akḥram and they (the idolaters) turned and fled. I said: "O Akḥram, guard yourselves against them lest they cut you off, until the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ and his Companions join you." He said: "O Salamah, if you believe in Allâh and the Last Day, and you know that Paradise is true and Hell is true, then do not stand between me and martyrdom." So I let him go, and he and 'Abdur-Raḥmân met. He killed the horse of 'Abdur-Raḥmân and 'Abdur-Raḥmân stabbed him and killed him, then he turned his horse around. Abû Qatâdah, the horseman of the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ, caught up with 'Abdur-Rahmân and stabbed him and killed him. By the One Who has honored the face of Muḥammad, I followed them, running on foot, until I could not see the Companions of Muḥammad ﷺ or their dust behind me, until before the sun set, when they reached a pass where there was water, which was called Dhu Qarad, where they could drink, because they were thirsty. They looked at me, running behind them, and I turned them out of there before they even tasted a drop of it. They went out and ran down a mountain path, and I ran behind one of their men and shot him in the shoulder blade. I said: "Take that! I am the son of Al-Akwa' and today is the day when the ignoble meet their doom." He said: "May his mother be bereft of him! He has been chasing us since morning." I said: "Yes, O enemy of yourself, I have been chasing you since morning." They left behind two horses on the mountain path, and I brought them to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ. 'Âmir met me with a container in which there was milk diluted with water, and a container in which there was water, and I performed Wudû' and drank some of it. Then I went to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ, who was at the water from which I had driven them away. The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ had taken those camels and everything that I had captured from the idolaters, and all of the spears and cloaks. Bilâl had slaughtered one of the camels that I had captured from the people, and he was roasting part of its liver and hump for the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ. I said: "O Messenger of Allâh, let me select one hundred men from among the people and follow those people, so that there will be no one who could convey the news but I will kill him." The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ smiled so broadly that his molars appeared in the light of the fire, then he said: "O Salamah, do you think that you can do that?" I said: "Yes, by the One Who has honored you." He said: "Now they are being welcomed in the land of Ghaṭafân." A man from Ghaṭafân came and so-and-so slaughtered a camel for them. As they were skinning it, they saw a cloud of dust, and they said: "The people have come!" They fled, and the next morning the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ said: "The best of our horsemen today was Abû Qatâdah, and the best of our foot soldiers was Salamah." Then the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ gave me two shares, the share of a horseman and the share of a foot soldier; he gave me them both. Then the Messenger of Allâh ﷻ seated me behind him on Al-'Aḏbâ' (his she-camel), and we came back to Al-Maḏinah. There was a man among the Anṣâr who could not be beaten in a race. He started saying: "Is there anyone who will race me back to Al-Maḏinah? Who will race me back to Al-Maḏinah?" And he started repeating that. When I heard his words, I said: "Will you not show honor and respect to a noble man?" He said: "No, unless he is the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ." I said: "O Messenger of Allâh, may my father and mother be ransomed for you; let me get down and race this man." He said: "If you wish." I said: "I am coming to you." I leapt up and started running. I slowed down on one or two high places where I started gasping, then I followed his tracks, then I slowed down on one or two high places, then I rushed and caught up with him. I tapped him between the shoulders and said: "You have been overtaken, by Allâh!" I said: "I think so." Then I beat him to Al-Maḏinah. Then by Allâh, we only stayed there for three nights before we went out to Khaibar with the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ. My paternal uncle 'Amir started reciting lines of poetry to the people, saying: "By Allâh, were it not for Allâh we would not have been guided,Or given charity or offered prayers. We cannot do without Your favor, So keep us steadfast when we meet (the enemy) And send down tranquillity upon us.” The Messenger of Allâh ﷺ said: “Who is this?” He said: “I am ‘Âmir.” He said: “May your Lord forgive you.” Whenever the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ prayed for forgiveness for a certain person, he would be martyred. ‘Umar bin Al-Khattâb, who was riding a camel of his, called out: “O Prophet of Allâh, would that you had let us benefit from ‘Âmir.” When we reached Khaibar, their king Marhab came out, brandishing his sword and saying: “Khaibar knows that I am MarhabA fully armed warrior, a triedand tested hero When war comes, spreading itsflames.” My paternal uncle ‘Âmir came out to meet him in single combat, and said: “Khaibar knows that I am ‘Âmir,A fully-armed warrior whoplunges into battle.” They exchanged blows; the sword of Marhab struck the shield of my uncle ‘Âmir, and ‘Âmir went to attack from below, but his sword recoiled and struck the artery in his forearm, and that led to his death.’ Salamah said: ‘I went out and saw a group of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, who were saying: "Āmir's deed was in vain; he killed himself." I went to the Prophet ﷺ weeping, and said: "O Messenger of Allâh, was 'Āmir's deed in vain?" He said: "Who said that?" I said: "Some of your Companions." He said: "Whoever said that is lying. Rather he will have a twofold reward." Then he sent me to 'Alî, who had sore eyes, and he said: "I will give the banner to a man who loves Allâh and His Messenger ﷺ, or who is loved by Allâh and His Messenger ﷺ." I brought 'Alî, leading him because he had sore eyes. I brought him to the Messenger of Allâh ﷺ, who put spittle in his eyes, and they were healed, then he gave him the banner. Marḥab came out, saying: "Khaibar knows that I am MarḥabA fully armed warrior, a tried andtested hero When war comes, spreading itsflames." 'Alî said: "I am the one whose mothercalled him Haidar (lion) Like a lion in the forest with afearsome countenance. I return their attack with onemore fierce." He struck the head of Marḥaband killed him, then victory cameat his hands."