Reports on the campaign of Dhu Qarad

Iyas bin Salamah narrates from his father that he said: I came to Madinah with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the days of the Truce of Hudaybiyah. (Once) I and Rabah, the slave of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), went out. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent Rabah with the camels, and I went out with him, taking the horse of Sayyiduna Talhah (may Allah be pleased with him), leading it out to pasture alongside the camels. When it was still the darkness of early morning, Abd al-Rahman bin Uyaynah attacked the camels of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and killed the camels' herdsman. He and the horsemen who were with him drove the camels away. I said: "O Rabah, sit on this horse, take it to Sayyiduna Talhah, and inform the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he (peace and blessings be upon him) has been attacked." 2. Salamah said: Then I stood on a hillock, turned my face toward Madinah and called out three times: "Ya Sabahah!" After that I set off after those people, with my sword and arrows with me. I began shooting arrows at them, wounding their mounts and so holding them back. This would happen when the trees were many. He said: Whenever a horseman came toward me, I would sit behind a tree and then shoot arrows. So no horseman would advance toward me without my wounding his mount and stopping him. I rained arrows on them, saying: "I am Ibn al-Akwa', and today is the day of the destruction of the base." 3. Then I reached a man and shot an arrow at him while he was on his mount. My arrow struck the man and lodged in his shoulder. I said: "Take that! And 'I am Ibn al-Akwa', and today is the day of the destruction of the base.'" 4. When I was among the (cluster of) trees I would shoot many arrows at those people, and when the mountain passes narrowed I would climb the mountain and throw stones at them. This remained my state and theirs: I kept running after them and reciting battle verses, until there was nothing Allah Almighty had created of the mounts of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) but I left it behind me and rescued it from the raiders. 5. Salamah said: I kept on shooting at them until they had thrown down more than thirty spears and more than thirty cloaks, by which they lightened their load. Whatever they threw down, I placed stones on it and gathered it on the route of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). When the time of mid-morning came, Uyaynah bin Badr al-Fazari came to the raiders with help, and they were in a narrow pass. I climbed the mountain, so I was above them. Uyaynah said: "What is this I see?" The raiders replied: "This affliction has stuck to us. From early morning until now he has not left us. He has taken from us all that we had and has left it behind him." At this Uyaynah said: "If this man did not suppose that there was pursuit (reinforcement) behind him, he would surely have left you." Uyaynah said: "A party of you should rise (to fight) him." So a party of four rose up toward me. They began to climb the mountain, and when they came within reach of my voice I said to them: "Do you know me?" They asked: "Who are you?" I replied: "I am Ibn al-Akwa'. By the One who honoured the face of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), none of you who wishes to catch me can catch me, and whomever I wish to catch cannot escape." One of them said: "I think so too." 6. Salamah said: Then I stayed sitting in that same place of mine until I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) coming through the trees, at their head al-Akhram al-Asadi, behind him the horseman of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah (may Allah be pleased with him), and behind Abu Qatadah, al-Miqdad al-Kindi. Salamah said: So the polytheists turned their backs and fled. I came down from the mountain, reached Sayyiduna al-Akhram (may Allah be pleased with him) and took hold of the reins of his horse. I said: "O Akhram, beware of these people (that is, stop for now), for I do not feel safe that they will not kill you. So wait until the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions reach (us)." Al-Akhram said: "O Salamah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day, and you know that Paradise is true and the Fire is true, then do not come between me and martyrdom." Salamah said: So I let go of the reins of his horse. He caught up with Abd al-Rahman bin Uyaynah, and Abd al-Rahman turned on him. They exchanged two spear thrusts. Al-Akhram wounded Abd al-Rahman's horse, and Abd al-Rahman thrust at him and killed him, and Abd al-Rahman moved onto al-Akhram's horse. Then Sayyiduna Abu Qatadah caught up with Abd al-Rahman and they exchanged two spear thrusts. Abu Qatadah's horse was wounded, and Abu Qatadah killed him, and Abu Qatadah moved onto al-Akhram's horse. 7. Then I set off running on the track of those people until I could see nothing of the dust of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Before sunset they turned aside to a ravine with water in it called Dhu Qarad. They wanted to drink from it, but they saw me running behind them, so they turned away from it and hurried into the pass, the pass of Dhu Thabir. The sun set. I caught up with one of their men and shot him, and said: "Take that! 'I am Ibn al-Akwa', and today is the day of the destruction of the base.'" He said: "May my mother be bereft of me! Are you my Akwa' of this morning?" I said: "Yes, O enemy of yourself." He was the one I had shot in the morning, so I followed it with another arrow, and two arrows stuck in him. They left behind two horses, and I came driving them to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), who was at the water of Dhu Qarad from which I had driven them away. There was the Prophet of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) with five hundred men, and Sayyiduna Bilal (may Allah be pleased with him) had slaughtered a camel from those I had left behind, and he was roasting some of its liver and hump for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). 8. I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), let me choose one hundred men from your Companions and take the disbelievers by surprise in the darkness, and not one of them who could carry news will remain but I will kill him." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Would you really have done that, O Salamah?" He said: "Yes, by the One who has honoured your face." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) laughed until I saw his molar teeth in the light of the fire. Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "They are now being given hospitality in the land of Ghatafan." Then a man from Ghatafan came and said: "They passed by so-and-so of Ghatafan, and he slaughtered a camel for them. When they began to skin it they saw dust rising, so they left it and went out fleeing." 9. When morning came, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of our horsemen today is Abu Qatadah, and the best of our foot soldiers is Salamah." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave me the share of a horseman and of a foot soldier together, then seated me behind him on al-Adba' as we returned to Madinah. When there was about a morning's journey between us and it, there was among the people a man of the Ansar who could not be outrun, and he began to call out: "Is there anyone to race? Is there no man who will race to Madinah?" He did so repeatedly, while I was riding behind the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I said to him: "Do you not honour a noble man or stand in awe of a man of rank?" He said: "No, except the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)." I said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), may my father and mother be sacrificed for you, let me go, so that I may race the man." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If you wish." I said: "I am coming for you." He leapt from his mount, and I bent my legs and leapt from the she-camel. Then I held back behind him for a rise or two, that is, I saved my breath, and then I ran until I caught up with him and struck him between the shoulders with my hand, and said: "I have beaten you, by Allah," or a similar word. He said: He laughed and said: "I think so too," until we reached Madinah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the fear prayer at Dhu Qarad, in the territory of Banu Sulaym. The people formed two rows behind him (peace and blessings be upon him). One row prayed (one rak'ah first) behind him (peace and blessings be upon him) and one row stood facing the enemy. He (peace and blessings be upon him) led the row near him (peace and blessings be upon him) in one rak'ah of prayer. Then these people went to the place of those people's row, and those people came to the place of these people's row, and he (peace and blessings be upon him) led them too in one rak'ah.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Zayd bin Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) performed the fear prayer; after that Sayyiduna Zayd narrated the same report as that of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).