Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

It is narrated from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that when we came to Madinah and ate the fruits there, they did not suit us and we suffered from severe fever. And the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was inquiring about Badr. The narrator says: When news reached us that the polytheists were coming, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out towards Badr. Badr is the name of a well. So we reached Badr before the polytheists and found two men there from among the polytheists. One man was from the Quraysh and the other was a freed slave of Uqbah bin Abi Mu’ait. The one from the Quraysh ran towards the Quraysh, and the freed slave was captured by us. We began to ask him: How many people are there? He replied: By Allah! They are very many in number, and their grip is very strong. When he said this, the Muslims began to beat him until they brought him to the service of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: How many people are there? The man replied: By Allah! They are very many in number and very severe in their grip. So the people tried hard to make him tell the number of the polytheists, but the man persistently refused.

2. Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him: How many camels do you slaughter? The man replied: Every day they slaughter ten camels. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: These people are a thousand in number. Each camel suffices for about a hundred people.

3. Then at night we felt a light rain, so we walked towards the trees and shields to protect ourselves from the rain. The narrator says: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) kept praying that night. When dawn broke, he announced: O servants of Allah! Be mindful of prayer. So the people came out from among the trees and shields, and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) led us in prayer and encouraged us towards battle. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The group of Quraysh is present near that red triangle of the mountains.

4. Then when these people came near us and we arranged our ranks, one man among them, riding a red camel, was moving among the polytheists. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)! Call Hamzah on my behalf. They were closer to the polytheists. Who is this man on the red camel and what is he saying? Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the people: If there is any good among the people (the polytheists), perhaps it is this man on the red camel. Then Hazrat Hamzah came and said: This man is Utbah bin Rabi’ah, and he is forbidding the people from fighting and saying to them: O my people! I see a people who desire death, and you cannot reach them in such a state that there is any good (i.e., victory) for you. O my people! Put the blame on me and say: Utbah has become a coward, although you know that I am not more cowardly than you.

5. When Abu Jahl heard this, he said: Are you saying this? If anyone other than you had said this, I would have had him killed. Surely your lungs and belly are filled with fear. Utbah said: O you who make your buttocks yellow! You taunt me. Soon, today you will know which of us is more cowardly.

6. The narrator says: Then Utbah, his brother Shaybah, and his son Walid, out of pride, came forward and said: Who will come out to face us? So six young men from the Ansar came out, but Utbah said: We have nothing to do with these people. Rather, let someone from our cousins, from Banu Abd al-Muttalib, come out against us. The narrator says: Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “O Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)! Stand up. O Hamzah! Stand up. O Ubaydah bin al-Harith! Stand up.” So Allah Almighty destroyed Utbah bin Rabi’ah, Shaybah bin Rabi’ah, and Walid bin Utbah, and Ubaydah bin al-Harith was wounded. And we killed seventy of the polytheists and captured seventy.

7. The narrator says: Then a short-statured man from the Ansar brought Abbas as a prisoner. Abbas said: By Allah! This Ansari did not capture me. Rather, I was captured by a bald man with a very handsome face, riding a horse with white and black spots. I do not see this man in your army. The Ansari said: O Messenger...