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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376 The Ltfe <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />
carpet, an old man like a bughiith (589). He was quite sober and normal.<br />
We saluted him, and he lifted his head to look at 'Ubaydullah, and said,<br />
"Are you the son <strong>of</strong> 'Adiy b. al-Khiyiir 1" and when he said he was, he said,<br />
i'By God, I have not seen you since I handed. you to your Sa'dite mother<br />
565 who nursed you in Dhu Tuwa.' I handed you to her when she was on her<br />
camel, and she clasped you round your body with her two hands. You<br />
kicked' me with your feet when I lifted you up to her. By God, as soon as<br />
you stood in front <strong>of</strong> me I recognized them." We sat down and told him<br />
that we had come to hear his account <strong>of</strong> how he killed !:Iamza. He said,<br />
"I will tell you as I told the apostle when he asked me about it. I was a<br />
slave <strong>of</strong> Jubayr b. Munm, whose uncle Tu'ayma b. 'Adiy had been killed<br />
at Badr, and when Quraysh set out for Ul;md, Jubayr told me that if I<br />
killed !:Iamza, <strong>Muhammad</strong>'s uncle, in revenge for his uncle, I should be<br />
free. So I went out with the army, a young Abyssinian, skilful like my<br />
countrymen in the use <strong>of</strong> the javelin-I hardly ever missed anything with<br />
it. When the fight began I went out to look carefully for !:Iamza, until I<br />
saw him in the midst <strong>of</strong> the army, like a great camel, slaying men with his<br />
sword, none being able to resist him, and by God, I was getting ready for<br />
him, making towards him and hiding myself behind trees or rocks so that<br />
he might come near me, when suddenly Sibil' got to him first, and when<br />
l;Iamza saw him, he said, "Come here, you son <strong>of</strong> a female circumciser,"<br />
and struck him a blow so swiftly that it seemed to miss his head. I poised<br />
my javelin until I was sure that it would hit the mark and launched it at<br />
him. It pierced the lower part <strong>of</strong> his body and came out between his legs,<br />
and he began to stagger towards me. Then he collapsed, and I left him<br />
with the javelin until he died; then I came back and recovered my javelin,<br />
and returned to the camp and stayed there, for I had no further business,<br />
and my only object in killing him was that I might be freed. When I<br />
returned to Mecca I was freed and lived there until the apostle conquered<br />
Mecca, when I fled to al-Ta'if, and stayed there for some time. When the<br />
envoys <strong>of</strong> Ta'if went out to the apostle to surrender, I was in an impasse<br />
and thought that I would go to Syria or the Yaman, or any other country,<br />
and while I was in this anxiety a man said to me, "Good heavens, what is<br />
the matter? He-does not kill anyone who enters his religion and pronounces<br />
the shahiida." On hearing this I went out <strong>of</strong> the town to the apostle at<br />
Medina, and the first thing to surprise him was to see me standing, at his<br />
head, witnessing to the truth <strong>of</strong> God and His apostle. When he saw me he<br />
said, "Is it Wal).shi?" "Yes, 0 apostle <strong>of</strong> God," I said. He replied, "Sit<br />
566 down and tell me how you killed !:Iamza." So I told him as I have told<br />
you. When I had finished he said, "Woe to you, hide your face from me<br />
and never let me see you again." So I used to avoid the apostle wherever<br />
he was so that he should not see me, until God took him.<br />
I<br />
A place in Mecca,<br />
1 Or, perhaps, 'Your feet looked shiny to me', In what respect this person's feet were not<br />
normal is not indicated.<br />
The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> 377<br />
"When the Muslims went out against Musaylima, the false prophet, lord<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Yamama, I accompanied them, and I took the javelin with which I<br />
had killed !:Iarnza, and when the armies met I saw Musaylima standing<br />
with a sword in his hand, but I did not recognize him. I made ready for<br />
him and so did one <strong>of</strong> the An~ar from the other side, both <strong>of</strong> us intending<br />
to kill him. I poised my javelin until I was sure that it would hit the mark,<br />
and launched it at him, and it pierced him, and the An~ari rushed at him<br />
and smote him with his sword, so your Lord knows best which <strong>of</strong> us killed<br />
him. If I killed him, then I have killed the best man after the apostle and<br />
I have also killed the worst man." ,<br />
(\Vhen he came to l'vledina the men, said '0 apostle, this is Wal).shi' to s.<br />
which he replied 'Let him alone for that one man should accept Islam is<br />
dearer to me than the killing <strong>of</strong> a thousand unbelievers.'],<br />
'Abdullah b. al-Fa