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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The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />
Were treacherous on the day <strong>of</strong>al.Raji f ,<br />
•<br />
Betraying their ward to whom kindness and ge.neroslty were due,<br />
The apostle's messenger. Hudhayl took nO pams<br />
To ward <strong>of</strong>f the evil <strong>of</strong> loathsome cnmes.<br />
One day they will see victory turn against them<br />
For killing one whom there protected aga~nst evil deeds I<br />
Swarms <strong>of</strong> hornets standing guard over hIS flesh<br />
Which protected the flesh <strong>of</strong> one who "~tnessed great battles.<br />
Perhaps in return for killing him Hudhayl wlll see<br />
Dead lying prostrate or women mourmng<br />
As we bring a violent attack upon them, .<br />
Which riders will relate faithfully to those at the faIrs<br />
By command <strong>of</strong> God's apostle, for he with full knowledge<br />
Has made a forceful decision against Li1).yan, .<br />
A contemptible tribe caring nothing for good faIth.<br />
If they are wronged they do not resist the aggressor.<br />
When people live in an isolated quarter<br />
You see them in the watercourses between the well-worn channels.<br />
Their place is the home <strong>of</strong> death.<br />
When anything happens to them they have the minds <strong>of</strong> cattle.<br />
I:lassan also said:<br />
God curse Li~yan, for their blood does not repay us<br />
For their having slain the two in treachery.<br />
At al-Raji' they killed the son <strong>of</strong> a free woman<br />
Faithful and pure in his friendship.<br />
._,<br />
Had they all been killed on the day <strong>of</strong> aI-RaJ!<br />
In revenge for '.Asim 2 that would not have sufficed<br />
For the dead man" whom the bees protected in their tents,<br />
Among people <strong>of</strong> obvious infidelity and coarseness.<br />
Lihyan killed one more honourable than they<br />
~d sold Khubayb for a miserable price, woe to them!<br />
Ugh! for Li~yan in every event. .,<br />
May their memory pensh and not even be mentIOned.<br />
A contemptible tribe <strong>of</strong> mean and treacherous descent,<br />
Their meanness cannot be concealed. . .<br />
If they were slain their blood would not pay for hIm .<br />
But the killing <strong>of</strong> his killers would cure me (<strong>of</strong> mypam):<br />
Unless I die I will terrify Hudhayl with a plundenng raId<br />
Swift as the early morning cloud.<br />
By the apostle's cornman?, an.d hi~ it _is;<br />
Disaster will spend the mght m Ll~yan s court.<br />
I harii'im refers to the oath taken by 'A!?im that he WOUld. neve: touch or,le. to~ch~dl1bYa<br />
polytheist, and also to the ;ow <strong>of</strong> Sulafa that she would drmk wme from i?lrn s S u .<br />
:: Lit. 'he <strong>of</strong> the hornets<br />
The LIfe <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> 433<br />
The people in al-Raji' will be found in the morning<br />
Like little goats who have passed the winter without warmth.'<br />
I:lassan also said:<br />
By God, Hudhayl do not know<br />
Whether Zamzam's water is clean or foul;<br />
And if they make the great or lesser pilgrimage<br />
They have no share in the f1-ijr or the running.<br />
But at al-Raji' they have a place,<br />
The home <strong>of</strong> open meanness and disgrace.<br />
They are like goats in the Hijaz bleating<br />
In the evening beside the shelters.<br />
They were treacherous to Rhubayb their ward.<br />
What a miserable covenant was their false word! (673)<br />
I:lassan also said: 648<br />
God bless those who followed one another (to death) the day <strong>of</strong> al-<br />
Raji'<br />
And were honoured and rewarded.<br />
Marthad the head and leader <strong>of</strong> the party and<br />
Ibn al-Bukayr their imam and Khubayb.<br />
And a son <strong>of</strong> Tariq; Ibn Dathinna was there too.<br />
There his death as it was written befell him<br />
And al-'A~im slain at Raji'<br />
Attained the heights (<strong>of</strong> heaven) great gainer he.<br />
He averted the disgrace <strong>of</strong> wounds in the back.<br />
He met them sword in hand, the noble warrior (674).<br />
The apostle stayed (in Medina) for the rest <strong>of</strong> Shawwal, Dhu'l-Qa'da,<br />
Dhii'I-I:Iijja, and al-Mu~arram while the polytheists supervised the pilgrimage.<br />
Then he sent the men <strong>of</strong> Bi'r Ma'lina forth in $afar, four months<br />
after U~ud.<br />
My father Is~aq b. Yasar from al-Mughjra b. Abdu'l-Ra~man b. al<br />
I:Iarith b. Hisham told me, as did 'Abdullah b. Abu Bakr b. <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />
b. "Amr b. J:Iazrn and other traditionists, as foJIows: Abu Bara' "Amir b.<br />
Malik b. Ja'far the 'Player with the Spears' came to the apostle in Medina<br />
(T and <strong>of</strong>fered him a present. The apostle refused it, saying that he could T. '+12<br />
not accept a present from a polytheist and telling him to become a Muslim<br />
if he mshed him to accept his present).' The apostle explained Islam to<br />
him and invited him to accept it. He would not do so yet he was not far<br />
from Islam. He said: '0 <strong>Muhammad</strong> (To your affair to which you invite<br />
B 4080<br />
I I follow the reading <strong>of</strong> C.<br />
2 T's version is more verbose than I.H.'s recension.<br />
F f<br />
43 2 THE STORY OF BI'R MAfUNA IN :;;AFAR, A.H.4