Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

The Life of Muhammad
797 'A'isha here commented, 'Meddling often injures the meddler.' The
apostle said, 'Go and tell them to be quiet, and if they refuse throw dust
in their mouths.' "'~'isha added: 'I said to myself, God curse you, for
you have neither spared yourself the indignity of a snub nor are you able
to do what the apostle said. I knew he could not throw dust in their
mouths.'
QUlba b. Qatada al-'Udhri who was over the right wing had attacked
Malik b. Zafila (T. leader of the mixed Arabs) and killed him, and said:
I pierced Ibn Zafila b. al-Irash with a spear
Which went through him and then broke.
I gave his neck a blow
So that he bent like a bough of mimosa.
We led off the wives of his cousins
On the day of Raquqayn as sheep (789).
A ktihina of J:Iadas who heard about the advance of the apostle's army
had said to her people who were a cIan called B. Ghanm:
I warn you of a proud people
Who are hostile in their gaze.
They lead their horses in single file
And shed turgid blood.
They took heed to her words and separated themselves from Lakhm.
Mterwards J:Iadas remained a large and prosperous tribe. Those who
took part in the war that day, the B. Tha'laba a cIan of J:Iadas, remained
insignificant. When Khiilid went off with the men he took the homeward
road.
Muhammad b. Jafar b. al-Zubayr told me from 'Urwa b. al-Zubayr
that when they got near Medina the apostle and the Muslims met them
and the boys came running while the apostle came with the people on his
beast. He said, 'Take the boys and carry them and give me Ja'far's son.'
They gave him 'Abdullah and he took him and carried him in front of him.
The men began to throw dirt at the army, saying, 'You runaways, you fled
in the way of God!' The apostle said, 'They are not runaways but comeagains
if God will.'
'Abdullah b. Abu Bakr told me from 'Amir b. 'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr
from one of the family of al-J:Iarith b. Hisham who were his maternal
uncIes, from Umm Salama the prophet's wife who said to the wife of
Salama b. Hishiim b. al- 'A~ b. al-Mughira, 'Why is it that I do not see
Salama at prayers with the apostle with the rest of the Muslims /' She
replied, 'By God, he can't go out. Whenever he goes out the men call out
"Runaway! You ran away when in the path of Godl" until he has taken
to sitting in his house and not going out at all. I
Qays b. al-Musa\I\Iar al-Yamuri composed the following verses in
which he made excuses for what he and the other men did that day and
The Life of Muhammad 537
shows how Khalid took precautions for their safety and got away with
them:
By God, I never cease to blame myself for stopping
vVhen the horses were leaping fonvard 1 with bolting eyes.
I stopped tbere neither asking help nor acting decisively
Nor protecting those for whom death was decreed.
However, I did but imitate Khalid
And Khalid has no equal in the army.
My heart was moved for Jafar in Mu'ta
When an arrow was no good to an archer.
And he linked up their two wings to us
Muhajirs not polytheists nor unarmed.
Thus Qays made clear in his verses the facts which people dispute, namely
that the army kept their distance and were afraid of death, and established
the fact that Khalid and his men avoided battle (790).
Among the lamentations over the apostle's companions who died at
Mu'ta are the lines bf J:Iassan b. Thabit:
A miserable night I had in Yathrib,
Anxiety that robbed me of sleep when others slept soundly.
At the thought of a friend my tears ran fast.
(Memory is oft the cause of weeping.
Nay, the loss of a friend is a calamity,
And how many a noble soul is afflicted and endures patiently.)
I saw the best of the believers follow one another to death,
Though some held back behind them.'
May God receive the slain at Mu'ta who went one after another.
Among them Ja'far now borne on wings,
And Zayd and 'Abdullah when they too followed
When the cords of death were active
On the day they went"on with the believers,
The fortunate radiant one leading them to death.
Bright as the full moon--of Hashim's sons,
Haughty against wrong, daringly bold,
He fought till he fell unpillowed
On the battlefield, a broken shaft in his body.
He has his reward with the martyrs,
Gardens and green spreading trees.
We saw in Ja'far a man loyal to Muhammad,
One who gave decisive orders.
May there ever be in Islam of Hashim's line
Pillars of strength and an endless source of pride;
I The readings vary: qa'ia leaping; na'ia lifting up their heads; qabi'a panting.
l This is banal. The Diu'an (xxi) 'for I had been kept back with those who were left
behind' is better.
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