Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 39441 — The great Battle of Badr, how it came

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him): When we came to Madinah and ate of its fruits, they did not agree with us and we were struck with a severe fever. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was seeking information about Badr. The narrator said: When news reached us that the polytheists were coming, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) set out for Badr. Badr is the name of a well. We reached Badr before the polytheists and found two men of the polytheists there: one man from Quraysh and a freed slave of Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ayt. As for the Qurashi, he fled to Quraysh; as for the freed slave, we seized him. We began asking him: "How many people are there?" He would answer: "By Allah! They are very many in number, and their grip is very severe." When he said this, the Muslims began to beat him, until they brought him before the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He (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 severe in their grip." The people tried very hard to make him tell them 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: "We slaughter ten camels every day." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "These people number one thousand. Each camel is (sufficient) for about one hundred." 3. Then in the night we felt a light rain, so we went toward the trees and shields to protect ourselves from the rain. The narrator said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) spent that night supplicating. When dawn broke, he (peace and blessings be upon him) called out: "O servants of Allah! Attend to the prayer." 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 urged us to fight. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The host of Quraysh is at this red ridge of the mountain." 4. When these people came near us and we arranged our ranks, a man from among them, riding a red camel, was moving among the polytheists. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)! Call Hamzah for me." He was the nearest to the polytheists. "Who is this man on the red camel, and what is he saying?" Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to the people: "If any of the people (the polytheists) has any good, it may be this man on the red camel (who has it)." Then Sayyiduna Hamzah (may Allah be pleased with him) came and said: "This man is Utbah bin Rabi'ah. He is forbidding the people from fighting and saying to them: 'O my people! I see a people who long for death, and you will not reach them while any good (that is, victory) remains in you. O my people! Tie the blame on my head and say: Utbah has become a coward. Yet you know that I am not more cowardly than you.'" 5. Abu Jahl heard this and said: "You are saying this? If anyone other than you had said this, I would have had him cut. Your lungs and belly have been filled with terror." Utbah said: "O you who yellow your buttocks! You taunt me? Today you will soon know which of us is the greater coward." 6. The narrator said: Then Utbah, his brother Shaybah and his son al-Walid came forward in a fit of pride and said: "Who will come out to face us?" Six young men from the Ansar came out. Utbah said: "We have no business with these people. Rather let those of our cousins from Banu Abd al-Muttalib come out to face us." The narrator said: Then he (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." Allah Almighty destroyed Utbah bin Rabi'ah, Shaybah bin Rabi'ah and al-Walid bin Utbah, and Sayyiduna Ubaydah bin al-Harith (may Allah be pleased with him) was wounded. We killed seventy of the polytheists and took seventy captive. 7. The narrator said: Then a short man from the Ansar brought al-Abbas as a captive. Al-Abbas said: "Indeed, by Allah! This Ansari did not capture me. Rather, a balding man with a most beautiful face captured me, and he was riding a piebald horse. I do not see this man among (your) army." The Ansari said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)! I captured him." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Be quiet. Allah Almighty has aided you by means of a noble angel." Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: From Banu Abd al-Muttalib, al-Abbas, Aqil and Nawfal bin al-Harith were taken captive.