Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth
Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth
Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
548 The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong><br />
who enters Abu Sufyiln's house is safe, and hewho locks his door is safe, and<br />
he who enters the mosque is safe.' When he went <strong>of</strong>f to go back the apostle<br />
told me to detain him in the narrow part <strong>of</strong> the wadi where the mountain<br />
projected' so that God's armies would pass by and he would see them; so<br />
I went and detained him where the prophet had ordered.<br />
The squadrons passed him with their standards, and he asked who they<br />
were. When I said Sulaym he would say, 'What have I to do with Sulayml'<br />
and so with Muzayna until all had passed, he asking the same question and<br />
making the same response to the reply. Finally the apostle passed with his<br />
greenish-black squadron (799) in which were Muhiljirs and An~ilr whose<br />
815 eyes alone were visible because <strong>of</strong> their armour. He said, 'Good heavens,<br />
'Abbas, who are these I' and when I told him he said that none could withstand<br />
them. 'By God, 0 Abu Fac,ll, the authority <strong>of</strong> your brother's son has<br />
become great.' I told him that it was due to his prophetic <strong>of</strong>fice, and he<br />
said that in that case he had nothing to say against it.<br />
I told him to hurry to his people. When he came to them he cried at the<br />
top <strong>of</strong> his voice: '0 Quraysh. this is <strong>Muhammad</strong> who has come to you with<br />
a force you cannot resist. He who enters Abu Sufyan's house is safe.'<br />
Hind d. 'Utba went up to him, and seizing his moustaches cried, 'Kill this<br />
fat greasy bladder <strong>of</strong> lard! What a rotten protector <strong>of</strong> the people!' He<br />
said, 'Woe to you, don't let this woman deceive you, for you cannot resist<br />
what has come. He who enters Abu Sufyiln's house will be safe.' 'God<br />
slay you,' they said, 'what good will your house be to us 1>2 He added, 'And<br />
he who shuts his door upon himself will be safe and he who enters the<br />
mosque will be safe.' Thereupon the people dispersed to their houses and<br />
the mosque.<br />
'Abdullah b. Abu Bakr told me that when the apostle came to Dhu Tuwil<br />
he halted on his beast turbaned with a piece <strong>of</strong> red YamanI cloth and that<br />
he lowered his head in submission to God, when he saw how God had<br />
honoured him with victory, so that his beard almost touched the middle <strong>of</strong><br />
the saddle.<br />
Ya\>yil b. 'Abbild b. 'Abdullah b. al-Zubayr from his father fr.om hi~<br />
grandmother Asmil' d. Abu Bakr said: W?en the apostle stopped III Dhu<br />
Tuwil Abu Quhilfa said to a daughter <strong>of</strong> hIS, one <strong>of</strong> hiS youngest chrldren,<br />
'Take me up t~ Abu Qubays,' for his sight had almost gone. When they<br />
got there he asked her what she could see and she told him 'a mass <strong>of</strong><br />
black.' 'Those are the horses,' he said. Then she told him that she could<br />
see a man running up and down in front <strong>of</strong> them and he said that that was<br />
the adjutant, meaning the man who carries and transmits the orders.to the<br />
816 cavalry. Then she said, 'By God, the black mass has spread.' He SaId, 'In<br />
that case the cavalry have been released, so bring me quickly to my house.'<br />
She took him down and the cavalry encountered him before he could get<br />
to his house. The girl had a silver necklace and a man who met her tore<br />
I<br />
Z<br />
Lit. 'at the nose <strong>of</strong> the mountain'.<br />
i.e. it could not provide cover for them all.<br />
The <strong>Life</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Muhammad</strong> 54-9<br />
it from her neck. When the apostle came in and entered the mosque Abu<br />
Bakr came leading his father. On seeing him the apostle said, 'Why did<br />
you not leave the old man in his house so that I could come to him there I'<br />
Abu Bakr replied that it was more fitting that he should come to him than<br />
vice versa. He made him sit before him and stroked his chest and asked<br />
him to accept Islam and he did so. When Abu Bakr brought his father in<br />
his head was as white as edelweiss, and the apostle told them to dye it.<br />
Then Abu Bakr got up and taking his sister's hand said, II ask in the name<br />
<strong>of</strong> God and Islam for my sister's necklace' and none answered him, and he<br />
said, 'Sister, regard your necklace as taken by God (and look to Him to<br />
requite you) for there is not much honesty among people nowadays.'<br />
'Abdullah b. Abu Naji\> told me that the apostle divided his force at<br />
Dhu Tuwil ordering al-Zubayr b. al-'Awwilm to go in with some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
men from Kudil. Al-Zubayr commanded the left wing; Sad b. 'Ubilda he<br />
ordered to go in with some <strong>of</strong> the men from Kadil'.<br />
Some traditionists allege that when Sa'd started <strong>of</strong>f he said,<br />
Today is a day <strong>of</strong> war,<br />
Sanctuary is no more,<br />
and one <strong>of</strong> the muhiljirs (800) heard him and told the apostle that it was to<br />
be feared that he would resort to violence. The apostle ordered 'Ali to go<br />
after him and take the flag from him and enter with it himself.<br />
'Abdullah b. Abu Naji\> in his story told me that the apostle ordered<br />
Khillid to enter from ai-Lit, the lower part <strong>of</strong> Mecca, with some men. Khillid<br />
was in command <strong>of</strong> the right wing with Aslam, Sulaym, Ghifilr, Muzayna,<br />
Juhayna, and other Arab tribes. Abu 'Ubayda b. al-Jarril\> advanced<br />
with the troops pouring into Mecca in front <strong>of</strong> the apostle who entered<br />
from Adhilkhir' until he halted above Mecca and his tent was pitched<br />
there.<br />
'Abdullah b. Abu Naji\> and 'Abdullah b. Abu Bakr tcld me that i;3afwiln<br />
b. Umayya and 'Ikrima b. Abu Jahl and Suhayl b. 'Arnr had collected<br />
some men in al-Khandama' to fight. J:Iimas b. Qays b. Khillid brother <strong>of</strong><br />
B. Bakr was sharpening his sword before the apostle entered rvlecca, and<br />
his wife asked him why he was doing so. When he told her it was for<br />
<strong>Muhammad</strong> and his companions she said that she did not think that it<br />
would do them any harm. He answered that he hoped to give her one <strong>of</strong><br />
them as a slave and said:<br />
I have no excuse if today they advance.<br />
Here is my weapon, a long-bladed lance,<br />
A two-edged sword in their faces will dance!<br />
Then he went to al-Khandama with i;3afwiln, Suhayl, and 'Ikrima and<br />
when the Muslims under Khillid arrived a skirmish followed in which<br />
I YaqUi knows nothing <strong>of</strong> this place, but it is mentioned frequently by al.Azrnqi, Mecca,<br />
1352, ii. 232 fr. as a pass near Mecca.<br />
~ Not mentioned by YaqUi. Au. i. 146 says it is a peak on Abu Qubays.<br />
8'7