Musnad Ahmad 16539

Translation

✧ We arrived in Madinah at the time of al-Hudaybiyah with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then I and Rabah, the servant of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, went out with the riding animals of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and I went out with a horse belonging to Talhah ibn Ubaydullah, intending to take it out to pasture with the camels. When it was still dark before dawn, Abd al-Rahman ibn Uyaynah raided the camels of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, killed their shepherd, and drove them off, he and some men with him on horses. I said, “Rabah, mount this horse, take it to Talhah, and inform the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that his grazing herd has been raided.” He said: I stood on a hill, turned my face toward Madinah, and called out three times, “O morning alarm!” Then I followed the people, carrying my sword and arrows. I began shooting at them and hamstringing their mounts, for the trees were plentiful. Whenever a horseman turned back toward me, I would sit for him at the base of a tree and shoot; no horseman came toward me but that I hamstrung his mount. I kept shooting at them while saying, in rajaz meter, “I am the son of al-Akwa, and today is the day of the sucklings.” I would catch up with one of them and shoot him while he was on his mount, and my arrow would strike the man until it pierced through his shoulder. I said, “Take it! I am the son of al-Akwa, and today is the day of the sucklings.” When I was among the trees, I burned them with arrows; when the mountain passes narrowed, I climbed the mountain and pelted them with stones. That remained my affair with them: I followed them and chanted rajaz until there was nothing Allah had created among the riding animals of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ except that I had put it behind my back, rescuing it from their hands. Then I continued shooting at them until they threw down more than thirty spears and more than thirty cloaks, lightening their load. They did not throw down anything but that I placed stones upon it and gathered it along the road of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. When the forenoon lengthened, Uyaynah ibn Badr al-Fazari came to them as reinforcements while they were in a narrow pass. I climbed the mountain and was above them. Uyaynah said, “What is this that I see?” They said, “We have met severe hardship from this man. He has not left us since before dawn until now, and he has taken everything in our hands and put it behind his back.” Uyaynah said, “Were it not that this man thinks there is a pursuing force behind him, he would have left you. Let a few men among you stand up to him.” Four men from among them stood up to him and ascended the mountain. When I made them hear my voice, I said, “Do you know me?” They said, “Who are you?” I said, “I am the son of al-Akwa. By the One who honored the face of Muhammad ﷺ, no man among you will pursue me and catch me, and I will not pursue him and fail to overtake him.” One of them said, “I think so.” He said: I did not leave that place of mine until I saw the horsemen of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ moving through the trees. The first of them was al-Akhram al-Asadi; behind him was Abu Qatadah, the horseman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; and behind Abu Qatadah was al-Miqdad al-Kindi. The polytheists turned and fled. I came down from the mountain and intercepted al-Akhram, taking hold of the rein of his horse. I said, “Al-Akhram, beware of the people—that is, be cautious of them—for I do not feel safe that they may cut you off. Go slowly until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his Companions catch up.” He said, “Salamah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day and know that Paradise is true and the Fire is true, then do not come between me and martyrdom.” He said: So I let go of the rein of his horse. He caught up with Abd al-Rahman ibn Uyaynah, and Abd al-Rahman turned upon him. They exchanged two thrusts: al-Akhram hamstrung Abd al-Rahman’s mount, and Abd al-Rahman thrust him and killed him. Abd al-Rahman then moved onto al-Akhram’s horse. Abu Qatadah caught up with Abd al-Rahman, and they exchanged two thrusts: Abd al-Rahman hamstrung Abu Qatadah’s mount, and Abu Qatadah killed him, then Abu Qatadah moved onto al-Akhram’s horse. Then I set out running after the people until I could no longer see any dust from the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. Before sunset they turned toward a mountain ravine containing water called Dhu Qarad, wanting to drink from it. They saw me running behind them, so they turned away from it and pushed hard into the pass, the pass of Dhu Nathr, as the sun set. I caught up with a man and shot him, saying, “Take it! I am the son of al-Akwa, and today is the day of the sucklings.” He said, “May the mother of Akwa be bereaved! Again, after this morning?” I said, “Yes, enemy of himself.” It was the same man I had shot in the morning, so I followed him with another arrow, and two arrows were lodged in him. They left behind two horses, and I brought them, driving them to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who was at the water from which I had driven them away, Dhu Qarad. There was the Prophet of Allah ﷺ with five hundred men, and Bilal had slaughtered a she-camel from what I had recovered and was roasting its liver and hump for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, “Messenger of Allah, let me choose one hundred of your Companions, and I will take the unbelievers by night so that none of them remains to report the news except that I will have killed him.” He said, “Would you really do that, Salamah?” He said: I said, “Yes, by the One who honored you.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ laughed until I saw his molar teeth in the light of the fire, then he said, “They are being hosted now in the land of Ghatafan.” A man from Ghatafan came and said, “They passed by so-and-so the Ghatafani, and he slaughtered a she-camel for them.” He said: When they began skinning it, they saw dust, so they left it and went out fleeing. When morning came, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The best of our horsemen today is Abu Qatadah, and the best of our footmen is Salamah.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave me both the share of a foot soldier and the share of a horseman, then he seated me behind him on al-Adba as we returned to Madinah. When there was about a forenoon’s distance between us and it, and among the people was a man of the Ansar who was never beaten in a race, he began calling out, “Is there anyone to race? Is there any man who will race to Madinah?” He repeated that several times while I was behind the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, riding behind him. I said to him, “Do you not honor a noble man or fear a dignified one?” He said, “No, except the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.” He said: I said, “Messenger of Allah, may my father and mother be ransomed for you, let me go so that I may race the man.” He said, “If you wish.” I said, “I am going to you.” The man leapt from his mount, and I folded my legs and leapt down from the she-camel. Then I held myself back from him for one or two rises—that is, I spared my strength—then I ran until I caught him and struck between his shoulders with my hand. I said, “By Allah, I have beaten you,” or a word like it. He said: He laughed and said, “I think so,” until we arrived in Madinah.

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