Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 39560 — The Battle of the Trench

It is narrated from Sayyidah Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her): On the day of the Trench I went out following in the footsteps of the people. I heard the sound of people behind me. I turned, and it was Sa'd bin Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him), and with him was his nephew al-Harith bin Aws, carrying his shield. So I sat down on the ground. She said: Sayyiduna Sa'd passed by wearing a coat of mail, and his limbs were sticking out of it, and I was afraid for the limbs of Sayyiduna Sa'd. She said: He was among the largest and tallest of people. She said: Then he passed by chanting rajaz verses and saying: "Wait a little, Hamal will join the battle. How excellent is death when the appointed time has come." She said: Then I got up and went into a small garden, and there was a group of Muslims there, among them Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), and among them also a man wearing a helmet. The narrator says: Sayyiduna Umar said: "How strange! What has brought you here? How strange! What has brought you here? By Allah, you are very bold. What has made you feel safe from retreat and calamity?" Sayyidah Aishah said: Sayyiduna Umar kept on blaming me until I wished that the earth would split open and I would enter it. She said: Then the (other) man took the helmet off his face, and it was Sayyiduna Talhah bin Ubaydullah (may Allah be pleased with him). The narrator says: He said: "O Umar, woe to you! You have blamed her very much today. To whom can there be retreat or flight, except to Allah?" Sayyidah Aishah said: A man of the polytheists of Quraysh, who was called Hibban bin al-Araqah, shot an arrow at Sayyiduna Sa'd and said: "Take this! I am Ibn al-Araqah." The arrow struck the vein in Sayyiduna Sa'd's arm and severed that vein. Sayyiduna Sa'd prayed to Allah: "O Allah, do not let me die until You cool my eyes concerning Banu Qurayzah." These people were Sa'd's allies and clients in the time of ignorance. Sayyidah Aishah said: Then the bleeding of his wound stopped. And Allah Almighty sent a wind upon the polytheists: "And Allah spared the believers the fighting, and Allah is All-Strong, Almighty" [Al-Ahzab: 25]. So Abu Sufyan went off to the region of Tihamah, and Uyaynah bin Badr bin Hisn and his companions went off to the region of Najd, and Banu Qurayzah went back and shut themselves up in their fortresses. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned to Madinah and gave orders, so a tent was pitched for Sayyiduna Sa'd in the mosque, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) put down his weapons and the like. Sayyidah Aishah said: Then Jibril came to him (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "Have you put down your weapons? By Allah, the angels have not put down their weapons. So go out to Banu Qurayzah and fight them." So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered the departure, put on his (peace and blessings be upon him) armour, and set out. When he (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by Banu Ghanm, who were neighbours of the mosque, he asked: "Who has passed by you?" They replied: "Dihyah al-Kalbi has passed by us." The beard and facial features of Sayyiduna Dihyah (may Allah be pleased with him) resembled those of Jibril. Then the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) reached Banu Qurayzah, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) besieged them for twenty-five days. When the siege of Banu Qurayzah became severe and their hardship grew hard, it was said to them: "Surrender to the judgment of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." They consulted Abu Lubabah, and he indicated to them with his hand that the judgment would be slaughter. Banu Qurayzah said: "We will come down to the judgment of Ibn Mu'adh." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Come down to the judgment of Sa'd bin Mu'adh." So they came down. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent someone to Sayyiduna Sa'd, and he was mounted on a donkey that had a saddle of palm fibre, and his people surrounded him. They began saying: "O Abu Amr! (These people) are your allies and your clients, and people who are hard on the enemy in war, and people known to you." Sayyidah Aishah said: Sayyiduna Sa'd gave them no answer. When Sa'd came near their homes, he turned to his people and said: "The time has now come for Sa'd not to care, concerning Allah, for the blame of any blamer." Then when he came before the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Abu Sa'id says: He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Stand up for your chief and help him down." Sayyiduna Umar said: "Our Chief is Allah." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Help him down." So they helped him down. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: "Judge concerning them." He said: "I judge concerning them that their fighting men be killed, their offspring be taken captive and their wealth be divided." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You have judged concerning them with the judgment of Allah and the judgment of His Messenger." The narrator says: Then Sayyiduna Sa'd prayed to Allah and said: "O Allah, if You have left anything of the war with Quraysh for Your Prophet, then keep me alive for it. And if You have ended the war between him and them, then take me to You." The narrator says: Then his wound burst open, though it had healed until nothing of it remained except something like a ring. She said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) returned, and Sayyiduna Sa'd returned to his tent which the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) had pitched for him. She said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Bakr and Sayyiduna Umar came to him. She said: By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, I could tell the weeping of Abu Bakr from the weeping of Umar while I was in my room. They were as Allah said: "merciful among themselves" [Al-Fath: 29]. Alqamah said: I said: "O mother, how would the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) behave?" She said: "His eye would not shed tears over anyone, but when he felt grief, he would only take hold of his beard."