Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

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