Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth
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Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

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433 29 2 The Life of Muhammad outstanding with Quraysh, and when theysaid there was, he said, 'Any mall who kills this youngster in revenge for one of his tr~be \\'i11 ~avc ex.act~d the blood due to him.' So one of them followed hIm and killed hIm 1ll revenge for the blood Quraysh had shed. When Quraysh discussed the matter, 'Amir b. Yazid said, 'You owed us blood so what do you want? If you wish pay us what you owe us, and we,will pay you ,,~hat \ve owe. !( you \vant only blood, man for man, then Ignore y~ur claims and ':C v,'111 ignore ours' ; and since this youth was of no great l~portance.to thlS clan of Quraysh, they said, 'All right, man for man', and Ignored hIS death and sought no compensation for it. Now while his brother l\1ikraz was travelling in lYIarr al-Zahran he saw

294 The Life of Muhammad with you. By God, if you were to take us to Bark al-Ghimiid,' we would fight resolutely with you against its defenders until you gained it.' The apostle thanked him and blessed him. Then he said, 'Give me advice, 0 Men,' by which he meant the An:;;ar. This is because they formed the majority, and because when they had paid homage to him in al-'Aqaba they stipulated that they were not responsible for his safety until he entered their territory, and that \vhen he was there they would protect him as they did their wives and children. So the apostle was afraid that the An~ar would not feel obliged to help him unless he was attacked by an enemy in l\ledina, and that they would not feel it incumbent upon them to go with 435 him against an enemy outside their territory. 'Vhen he spoke these ,vords Sa'd b. 1\1u'adh said, 'It seems as if you mean us,' and when he said that he did, Sa'd said, '\Ve believe in you, we declare your truth, 'and we witness that what you have brought is the truth, and we have given you our word and agreement to hear and obey; so go \vhere you wish, \ve are with you; and by God, if you were to ask us to cross this sea and you plunged into it, we would plunge into it with you; not a man would stay behind. We do not dislike the idea of meeting your enemy tomorrow. \Ve are experienced in war, trustworthy in combat. It may well be that God \'lilllet us show you something which will bring you joy, so take us along with God's blessing.' The apostle was delighted at Sa'd's words which greatly encouraged him. Then he said, 'Fornrard in good heart, for God has promised me one of the two parties,2 and by God, it is as though I now saw the enemy lying prostrate.' Then the apostle journeyed from Dhafriin and went over passes called A~iifir. Then he dropped down from them to a town called al-Dabba and left al-Banniin on the right. This was a huge sandhill like a large mountain. Then he stopped near Badr and he and one of his companions (359) rode on, as Muhammad b. Ya!)ya b. Babbiin told me, until he stopped by an old man of the Beduin and inquired about Quraysh and about 1\1uhammad and his companions, and what he had heard about them. The old man said, 'I won't tell you until you tell me which party you belong to.' The apostle said, 'If you tell us we will tell you.' He said, 'Tit for tat?' 'Yes,' he replied. The old man said, 'I have heard that Muhammad and his companions went out on such-and-such a' day. If that is true, today they are in such-and-such a place,' referring to the place in which the apostle actually was, 'and I heard that Quraysh went out on such-and-such a day, and if this is true, today they are in such-and-such a place,' meaning the one in which they actually were. When he had finished he said, 'Of whom are you)' The apostle said, 'We are from 1\1;1'.'3 Then he left him, while the old man was saying, 'What does 436 "from Ma'" mean? Is it from the water of Iraq?' (360). I A place in the Yemen, others say the farthest point of I;Iajar. T. 1300 adds 'a town of the Abyssinians'. 2 i.e. the caravan or the army. Cf. Sura 8. 7 3 i.e. \Vater. The 14e of ]'v1uhammad Then the apostle returned to his companions; and when night fell he sent 'Ali and al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwam and Sa'd b. Abu Waqqii~ with a number of his companions to the \yell at Badr in quest of news of both parties, according to what Yazid h. Ruman from 'L'rwa b. al-Zubayr told me, and they fell in with some water-camels of QlIraysh, among whom were Aslam, a slave of B. al-Uajjaj, and 'A.ri~i Abu Yasar, a young man of B. AI-'A~ b. Sa'id, and they brought them along and questioned them while the apostle was standing praying. They said, '\Ve are the watermen of Quraysh; they sent us to get them water.' The people were displeased at their report, for they had hoped that they would belong to Abti Sufyan, so they beat them, and when they had heaten them soundly, the two men said, '\Ye belong to Ahll Sufyan,' so they let them go. The apostle bO\ved and prostrated himself twice, and said, '\Vhen they told you the truth you beat them; and when they licd you let them alone. They told the truth; they do belong to Quraysh. Tell me :Y'0l1 two about thc Quraysh.'l They replied, 'They arc behind this hill which you sec on the farthest side.' (The hill was al-'Aqanqal.) The apostle asked them how many they were, and \vhen they said, ':\.1an1',' he asked for the numher, but they did not know; so he asked them how many beasts they slaughtered every day, and when they said nine or ten, he said, 'The people are bet\\Ten nine hundred and a thousand.' Then he asked how many nobles of Quraysh were among them. They said: "lJtba, Shayba, Abti'l-Bakhtari, ~Iakirn, ::\"allf

433<br />

29 2 The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />

outstanding with Quraysh, and when theysaid there was, he said, 'Any mall<br />

who kills this youngster in revenge for one <strong>of</strong> his tr~be \\'i11 ~avc ex.act~d<br />

the blood due to him.' So one <strong>of</strong> them followed hIm and killed hIm 1ll<br />

revenge for the blood Quraysh had shed. When Quraysh discussed the<br />

matter, 'Amir b. Yazid said, 'You owed us blood so what do you want? If<br />

you wish pay us what you owe us, and we,will pay you ,,~hat \ve owe. !(<br />

you \vant only blood, man for man, then Ignore y~ur claims and ':C v,'111<br />

ignore ours' ; and since this youth was <strong>of</strong> no great l~portance.to thlS clan<br />

<strong>of</strong> Quraysh, they said, 'All right, man for man', and Ignored hIS death and<br />

sought no compensation for it.<br />

Now while his brother l\1ikraz was travelling in lYIarr al-Zahran he saw<br />

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