Guillaume--Life of Muhammad.pdf - Radical Truth

586 The Life of Muhammad
A woman of B. Jusham lamenting two of her brothers who were slain
at Bunayn said:
o eyes, be generous with your tears
For Malik and al-'Ala'; be not niggardly.
They were the slayers of Abu 'Amir
Who held a sword with streaky marks.
They left him a bleeding lump'
Staggering, feebly unsupported.
Abu Thawab Zayd b. su~ar, one of B. Sad b. Bakr, said:
Have you not heard that Quraysh conquered Hawazin
(Misfortunes have their causes).
There was a time, Quraysh, \vhen if we were angry
Red blood flowed because of our rage.
There was a time, Quraysh, when if we were angry
I t seemed as though snuff were in our nostrils.
And now Quraysh drive us
Like camels urged on by peasants.
I am not in a position to refuse humiliation
l\'or am I disposed to give in to them (838).
'Abdullah b. Wahb, one of B. Tamjm of the clan of Dsayyid, answered
him:
By God's command we smote those we met
In accordance with the best command.
When \ve met, 0 Hawazin,
\Ve were saturating heads with fresh blood.
When you and B. Qasiy assembled
\Ve crushed opposition like beaten leaves.
Some of your chiefs we slew
And we turned to kill both fugitive and standfast.
Al-Multath lay with outstretched hands,
His dying breath sounding like a gasping young camel.
If Qays 'Aylan be angry
My snuff has always subdued them.
Khadij b. al-'Auja'al-:"Ia~ri said:
\Vhen we drew near to the waters of J:Iunayn
\Vc saw repellent black and white shapes
In a dense well-armed throng; if they had thrown them
At the peaks of 'Dzwa they would have become flat.
If my people's chiefs had obeyed me
We should not then have met the thick' cloud
I Cf. 856. 4.
2 I conjecture mutakathtlllf for mutakashshlf which gives a poor sense. On p. 870. 7 the
MSS. vacillate between kathifan and kashifan, and again the former is the better reading:
However, some such meaning as 'looming' might be ascribed to mlltakashshif. C. says It
means ;dhir.
The Life of Muhammad
Nor should we have met the army of Muhammad's people,
Eighty thousand reinforced by Khindif.
THE CAPTURE OF AL-T,rIF, A.H. 8
When the fugitives of Thaqif came to al-Ta'if they shut the gates of the
city and made preparations for war. Keither 'Urwa b. Mas'ud nor Ghay­
Ian b. Salama were present at J:Iunayn or at the siege of al-Tii.'if; they were
in Jurash learning the use of the testudo, the catapult, and other instruments.'
When he had finished at I:funayn the apostle went to al-'ra'if.
Ka'b b. Malik when the apostle came to this decision said:
We put an end to doubt in the lowlands and Khaybar,
Then we gave our swords a rest.
",re gave them the choice and could they have spoken
Their blades would have said, Give us Daus or Thaqif.
May I be motherless if you do not see
Thousands of us in your courts.
We will tear off the roofs in the valley of Wajj
And we will make your houses desolate.
Our swiftest cavalry ,vill come on yvu
Leaving behind a tangled mass.
When they come down on your courts
You will hear a cry of alarm
With sharp cutting swords in their hands like flashes of lightning
By which they bring death to those who would fight them
Tempered by Indian smiths~not beaten into plates.
You would think that the flowing blood of the warriors
Was mingled with saffron the morn the forces met.
Good God, had they no adviser
From the peoples who knew about us
To tell them that we had gathered
The finest blood horses and that we had brought an army
T~ surround the walls of their fort with troops?
Our leader the prophet, firm,
Pure of heart, steadfast, continent,
Straightfonvard, full of wisdom, knowledge, and clemency;
Not frivolous nor light minded.
\Vc obey our prophet ancl we obey a Lord
\Vho is the Compassionate, most kind to us.
H you offer peace we will accept it
And make you partners in peace and war.
If you refuse we will fight you doggedly,
'Twill be no weak faltering affair.
We shall fight as long as we live
I
l)ubiir, a sort of testudo.